1:1 |
I
have given an earlier account, O Theophilus, of all the things which Jesus
did, and of his teaching from the first, |
1:2 |
Till
the day when he was taken up to heaven after he had given his orders, through
the Holy Spirit, to the Apostles of whom he had made selection: |
1:3 |
And
to whom he gave clear and certain signs that he was living, after his death;
for he was seen by them for forty days, and gave them teaching about the
kingdom of God: |
1:4 |
And
when they were all together, with him, he gave them orders not to go away
from Jerusalem, but to keep there, waiting till the word of the Father was
put into effect, of which, he said, I have given you knowledge: |
1:5 |
For
the baptism of John was with water, but you will have baptism with the Holy
Spirit, after a little time. |
1:6 |
So,
when they were together, they said to him, Lord, will you at this time give
back the kingdom to Israel? |
1:7 |
And
he said to them, It is not for you to have knowledge of the time and the
order of events which the Father has kept in his control. |
1:8 |
But
you will have power, when the Holy Spirit has come on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judaea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth. |
1:9 |
And
when he had said these things, while they were looking, he was taken up, and
went from their view into a cloud. |
1:10 |
And
while they were looking up to heaven with great attention, two men came to
them, in white clothing, |
1:11 |
And
said, O men of Galilee, why are you looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who
was taken from you into heaven, will come again, in the same way as you saw
him go into heaven. |
1:12 |
Then
they went back to Jerusalem from the mountain named Olivet, which is near
Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. |
1:13 |
And
when they came in, they went up into the room where they were living; Peter
and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew,
James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas, the son of
James. |
1:14 |
And
they all with one mind gave themselves up to prayer, with the women, and Mary
the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. |
1:15 |
And
in those days Peter got up among the brothers (there were about one hundred
and twenty of them), and said, |
1:16 |
My
brothers, the word of God had to be put into effect, which the Holy Spirit
had said before, by the mouth of David, about Judas, who was guide to those
who took Jesus, |
1:17 |
For he
was numbered among us, and had his part in our work. |
1:18 |
(Now
this man, with the reward of his evil-doing, got for himself a field, and
falling head first, came to a sudden and violent end there. |
1:19 |
And
this came to the knowledge of all those who were living in Jerusalem, so that
the field was named in their language, Akel-dama, or, The field of
blood.) |
1:20 |
For
in the book of Psalms it says, Let his house be waste, and let no man be
living in it: and, Let his position be taken by another. |
1:21 |
For
this reason, of the men who have been with us all the time, while the Lord
Jesus went in and out among us, |
1:22 |
Starting
from the baptism of John till he went up from us, one will have to be a
witness with us of his coming back from death. |
1:23 |
And
they made selection of two, Joseph, named Barsabbas, whose other name was
Justus, and Matthias. |
1:24 |
And
they made prayers and said, Lord, having knowledge of the hearts of all men,
make clear which of these two has been marked out by you, |
1:25 |
To
take that position as a servant and Apostle, from which Judas by his sin was
shut out, so that he might go to his place. |
1:26 |
And
they put it to the decision of chance, and the decision was given for
Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles. |
2:1 |
And
when the day of Pentecost was come, they were all together in one place. |
2:2 |
And
suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a violent wind,
and all the house where they were was full of it. |
2:3 |
And
they saw tongues, like flames of fire, coming to rest on every one of
them. |
2:4 |
And
they were all full of the Holy Spirit, and were talking in different
languages, as the Spirit gave them power. |
2:5 |
Now
there were living at Jerusalem, Jews, God-fearing men, from every nation
under heaven. |
2:6 |
And
when this sound came to their ears, they all came together, and were greatly
surprised because every man was hearing the words of the disciples in his
special language. |
2:7 |
And
they were full of wonder and said, Are not all these men Galilaeans? |
2:8 |
And
how is it that every one of us is hearing their words in the language which
was ours from our birth? |
2:9 |
Men
of Parthia, Media, and Elam, and those living in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and
Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, |
2:10 |
In
Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and
those who have come from Rome, Jews by birth and others who have become
Jews, |
2:11 |
Men
of Crete and Arabia, to all of us they are talking in our different
languages, of the great works of God. |
2:12 |
And
they were all surprised and in doubt saying to one another, What is the
reason of this? |
2:13 |
But
others, making sport of them, said, They are full of new wine. |
2:14 |
But
Peter, getting up, with the eleven, said in a loud voice, O men of Judaea,
and all you who are living in Jerusalem, take note of this and give ear to my
words. |
2:15 |
For
these men are not overcome with wine, as it seems to you, for it is only the
third hour of the day; |
2:16 |
But this
is the thing which was said by the prophet Joel; |
2:17 |
And
it will come about, in the last days, says God, that I will send out my
Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will be prophets, and
your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams: |
2:18 |
And
on my men-servants and my women-servants I will send my Spirit, and they will
be prophets. |
2:19 |
And
wonders will be seen in heaven, and signs on the earth, blood and fire and
smoke: |
2:20 |
The
sun will become dark and the moon will be turned to blood, before that great
day of the Lord comes in glory: |
2:21 |
And
whoever makes his prayer to the Lord will have salvation. |
2:22 |
Men
of Israel, give ear to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man who had the
approval of God, as was made clear to you by the great works and signs and
wonders which God did by him among you, as you yourselves have knowledge, |
2:23 |
Him,
when he was given up, by the decision and knowledge of God, you put to death
on the cross, by the hands of evil men: |
2:24 |
But
God gave him back to life, having made him free from the pains of death
because it was not possible for him to be overcome by it. |
2:25 |
For
David said of him, I saw the Lord before my face at all times, for he is at
my right hand, so that I may not be moved: |
2:26 |
And
for this cause my heart was glad and my tongue full of joy, and my flesh will
be resting in hope: |
2:27 |
For
you will not let my soul be in hell and you will not give up your Holy One to
destruction. |
2:28 |
You
have made me see the ways of life; I will be full of joy when I see your
face. |
2:29 |
My
brothers, I may say to you openly that David came to his death, and was put
in the earth, and his resting-place is with us today. |
2:30 |
But
being a prophet, and having in mind the oath which God had given to him, that
of the fruit of his body one would take his place as a king, |
2:31 |
He,
having knowledge of the future, was talking of the coming again of Christ
from the dead, that he was not kept in hell and his body did not see
destruction. |
2:32 |
This
Jesus God has given back to life, of which we all are witnesses. |
2:33 |
And
so, being lifted up to the right hand of God, and having the Father's word
that the Holy Spirit would come, he has sent this thing, which now you see
and have knowledge of. |
2:34 |
For
David has not gone up into heaven, but says, himself, The Lord said to my
Lord, Be seated at my right hand, |
2:35 |
Till I put
all those who are against you under your feet. |
2:36 |
For
this reason, let all Israel be certain that this Jesus, whom you put to death
on the cross, God has made Lord and Christ. |
2:37 |
Now
when these words came to their ears their hearts were troubled, and they said
to Peter and the other Apostles, Brothers, what are we to do? |
2:38 |
And
Peter said, Let your hearts be changed, every one of you, and have baptism in
the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will have
the Holy Spirit given to you. |
2:39 |
For
the word of God is for you and for your children and for all those who are
far off, even all those who may be marked out by the Lord our God. |
2:40 |
And
with more such words he gave his witness, offering them salvation and saying,
Come out from this evil generation. |
2:41 |
Then
those who gave hearing to his words had baptism: and about three thousand
souls were joined to them that day. |
2:42 |
And
they kept their attention fixed on the Apostles' teaching and were united
together in the taking of broken bread and in prayer. |
2:43 |
But
fear came on every soul: and all sorts of wonders and signs were done by the
Apostles. |
2:44 |
And
all those who were of the faith kept together, and had all things in
common; |
2:45 |
And
exchanging their goods and property for money, they made division of it among
them all, as they had need. |
2:46 |
And
day by day, going in agreement together regularly to the Temple and, taking
broken bread together in their houses, they took their food with joy and with
True hearts, |
2:47 |
Giving
praise to God, and having the approval of all the people; and every day the
number of those who had salvation was increased by the Lord. |
3:1 |
Now
Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the ninth hour, the hour of
prayer; |
3:2 |
And
a certain man who from birth had had no power in his legs, was taken there
every day, and put down at the door of the Temple which is named Beautiful,
requesting money from those who went into the Temple; |
3:3 |
He
then, seeing Peter and John going into the Temple, made a request to
them. |
3:4 |
And
Peter, looking at him, with John, said, Keep your eyes on us. |
3:5 |
And
he gave attention to them, hoping to get something from them. |
3:6 |
But
Peter said, I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give to you. In
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up on your feet. |
3:7 |
And
he took him by his right hand, lifting him up; and straight away his feet and
the bones of his legs became strong, |
3:8 |
And,
jumping up, he got on to his feet and went into the Temple with them, walking
and jumping and giving praise to God. |
3:9 |
And all the
people saw him walking and praising God: |
3:10 |
And
they saw that it was the man who made requests for money at the door of the
Temple, and they were full of wonder and surprise at what had taken
place. |
3:11 |
And
while he kept his hands on Peter and John, all the people came running
together to the covered way which is named Solomon's, full of wonder. |
3:12 |
And
when Peter saw it he said to the people, You men of Israel, why are you so
greatly surprised at this man? or why are you looking at us as if by our
power or virtue we had given him the use of his legs? |
3:13 |
The
God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has given
glory to his servant Jesus; whom you gave up, turning your backs on him, when
Pilate had made the decision to let him go free. |
3:14 |
But
you would have nothing to do with the Holy and Upright One, and made request
for a man of blood to be given to you, |
3:15 |
And
put to death the Lord of life; whom God gave back from the dead; of which
fact we are witnesses. |
3:16 |
And
his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see
and have knowledge of: yes, the faith which is through him has made him well,
before you all. |
3:17 |
And
now, my brothers, I am conscious that you did this, as did your rulers,
without knowledge. |
3:18 |
But
the things which God had made clear before, by the mouth of all the prophets,
that the Christ would have to undergo, he has put into effect in this
way. |
3:19 |
So
then, let your hearts be changed and be turned to God, so that your sins may
be completely taken away, and times of blessing may come from the Lord; |
3:20 |
And
that he may send the Christ who was marked out for you from the first, even
Jesus: |
3:21 |
Who
is to be kept in heaven till the time when all things are put right, of which
God has given word by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been from the
earliest times. |
3:22 |
For
Moses said, The Lord will give you a prophet from among your people, like me;
you will give ear to everything which he will say to you. |
3:23 |
And
every soul who does not give attention to that prophet, will be cut off from
among the people. |
3:24 |
And
all the prophets from Samuel and those who came after, every one of them,
gave word of these days. |
3:25 |
You
are the sons of the prophets, and of the agreement which God made with your
fathers, saying to Abraham, Through your seed a blessing will come on all the
families of the earth. |
3:26 |
To
you, first, God sent his servant, blessing you by turning every one of you
from his sins. |
4:1 |
And
while they were talking to the people, the priests and the captain of the
Temple and the Sadducees came up to them, |
4:2 |
Being
greatly troubled because they were teaching the people and preaching Jesus as
an example of the coming back from the dead. |
4:3 |
And
they took them and put them in prison till the morning, for it was now
evening. |
4:4 |
But
a number of those who gave hearing to the word had faith; and they were now
about five thousand. |
4:5 |
And
on the day after, the rulers and those in authority and the scribes came
together in Jerusalem; |
4:6 |
And
Annas, the high priest, was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and
all the relations of the high priest. |
4:7 |
Then
sending for Peter and John, they said, By what power and in whose name have
you done this? |
4:8 |
Then
Peter, being full of the Holy Spirit, said to them, O you rulers of the
people and men of authority, |
4:9 |
If
we are questioned today about a good work done to a man who was ill, as to
how he has been made well, |
4:10 |
Take
note, all of you, and all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, whom you put to death on the cross, whom God gave back
from the dead, even through him is this man now before you completely well. |
4:11 |
He
is the stone which you builders had no use for, but which has been made the
chief stone of the building. |
4:12 |
And
in no other is there salvation: for there is no other name under heaven,
given among men, through which we may have salvation. |
4:13 |
Now
when they saw that Peter and John were without fear, though they were men of
no education or learning, they were greatly surprised; and they took note of
them that they had been with Jesus. |
4:14 |
And,
seeing that the man who had been made well was there with them, they were not
able to say anything against it. |
4:15 |
But
when they had given them orders to go out of the Sanhedrin, they had a
discussion among themselves, |
4:16 |
Saying,
What are we to do with these men? for certainly it is clear to all who are
living in Jerusalem that a most important sign has been done by them, and it
is not possible to say that it is not so. |
4:17 |
But
so that it may not go farther among the people, let us put them in fear of
punishment if they say anything in future in this name. |
4:18 |
And
they sent for them, and gave them orders not to make statements or give
teaching in the name of Jesus. |
4:19 |
But
Peter and John in answer said to them, It is for you to say if it is right in
the eyes of God to give attention to you more than to God: |
4:20 |
For
it is not possible for us to keep from saying what we have seen and have
knowledge of. |
4:21 |
And
when they had said more sharp words to them, they let them go, not seeing
what punishment they might give them, because of the people; for all men were
giving praise to God for what had taken place. |
4:22 |
For
the man on whom this act of power was done was more than forty years
old. |
4:23 |
And
when they had been made free, they came back to their friends, and gave an
account of all the things which the chief priests and the authorities had
said to them. |
4:24 |
And
hearing it, they all, with one mind, made prayer to God and said, O Lord,
maker of heaven and earth and the sea and all things in them: |
4:25 |
Who
has said, by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David your
servant, Why are the nations so violently moved, and why are the thoughts of
the people so foolish? |
4:26 |
The
kings of the earth were lifted up, the rulers came together, against the
Lord, and against his Christ: |
4:27 |
For,
truly, in this town, against your holy servant, Jesus, who was marked out by
you as Christ, Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of
Israel, came together, |
4:28 |
To
do that which had been fixed before by your hand and your purpose. |
4:29 |
And
now, Lord, take note of their cruel words, and give your servants power to be
preachers of your word without fear, |
4:30 |
While
your hand is stretched out to do works of mercy; so that signs and wonders
may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. |
4:31 |
And
when their prayer was ended, the place where they were was violently moved,
and they all became full of the Holy Spirit, preaching the word of God
without fear. |
4:32 |
And
all those who were of the faith were one in heart and soul: and not one of
them said that any of the things which he had was his property only; but they
had all things in common. |
4:33 |
And
with great power the Apostles gave witness of the coming back of the Lord
Jesus from the dead; and grace was on them all. |
4:34 |
And
no one among them was in need; for everyone who had land or houses,
exchanging them for money, took the price of them, |
4:35 |
And
put it at the feet of the Apostles for distribution to everyone as he had
need. |
4:36 |
And
Joseph, who was given by the Apostles the name of Barnabas (the sense of
which is, Son of comfort), a Levite and a man of Cyprus by birth, |
4:37 |
Having
a field, got money for it and put the money at the feet of the Apostles. |
5:1 |
But
a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, got money for his
property, |
5:2 |
And
kept back part of the price, his wife having knowledge of it, and took the
rest and put it at the feet of the Apostles. |
5:3 |
But
Peter said, Ananias, why has the Evil One put it into your heart to be False
to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? |
5:4 |
While
you had it, was it not your property? and after you had given it in exchange,
was it not still in your power? how has this purpose come into your mind? you
have been false, not to men, but to God. |
5:5 |
And
at these words, Ananias went down on the earth, and his life went from him:
and great fear came on all who were present. |
5:6 |
And
the young men went and made ready his body, and took it out, and put it in
the earth. |
5:7 |
And
about three hours after, his wife, having no knowledge of what had taken
place, came in. |
5:8 |
And
Peter said to her, Give me an answer: was this amount of money the price of
the land? And she said, Yes, it was. |
5:9 |
But
Peter said to her, Why have you made an agreement together to be False to the
Spirit of the Lord? See, the feet of the young men who have put the body of
your husband in the earth, are at the door, and they will take you out. |
5:10 |
And
straight away she went down at his feet, and her life went from her: and the
young men came in and saw her dead, and they took her out and put her in the
earth with her husband. |
5:11 |
Then
great fear came on all the church and on all who had knowledge of these
things. |
5:12 |
Now
a number of signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the
Apostles; and they were all together in Solomon's covered way. |
5:13 |
The
others, in fear, kept back from joining them: but the people made much of
them; |
5:14 |
And
a great number of men and women had faith, and were joined to the Lord; |
5:15 |
And
they even took into the streets people who were ill, and put them on beds, so
that when Peter went by, some of them might be in his shade. |
5:16 |
And
numbers of people came together from the towns round about Jerusalem, with
those who were ill and those who were troubled with unclean spirits: and they
were all made well. |
5:17 |
But
the high priest and those who were with him (the Sadducees) were full of
envy, |
5:18 |
And
they took the Apostles and put them in the common prison. |
5:19 |
But
in the night an angel of the Lord, opening the doors of the prison, took them
out and said, |
5:20 |
Go,
take your place in the Temple and give the people all the teaching about this
Life. |
5:21 |
And
hearing this, they went into the Temple at dawn, and were teaching. But the
high priest and those who were with him got together the Sanhedrin and the
representatives of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to get
them. |
5:22 |
But
the men who were sent saw that they were not in the prison, and came back
with the news, |
5:23 |
Saying,
The doors of the prison were safely shut, and the keepers were at the doors,
but when they were open, there was nobody inside. |
5:24 |
Now,
at these words, the captain of the Temple and the chief priests were greatly
troubled about what might be the end of this business. |
5:25 |
And
someone came and said to them, The men, whom you put in prison, are in the
Temple teaching the people. |
5:26 |
Then
the captain and some of the police went and took them, but not violently, for
fear that they might be stoned by the people. |
5:27 |
And
they took them into the Sanhedrin, and the high priest said to them, |
5:28 |
We
gave you very clear orders not to give teaching in this name: and now
Jerusalem is full of your teaching, and you are attempting to make us
responsible for this man's death. |
5:29 |
But
Peter and the Apostles, answering, said, We have to do the orders of God, not
of man. |
5:30 |
The
God of our fathers gave Jesus back to life, whom you had put to death,
hanging him on a tree. |
5:31 |
Him
God has put on high at his right hand, as a Ruler and a Saviour, to give to
Israel a change of heart and forgiveness of sins. |
5:32 |
And
we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has
given to those who keep his laws. |
5:33 |
But
when these words came to their ears, they were cut to the heart, and had a
mind to put them to death. |
5:34 |
But
one of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a man of learning in the
law, of whom all the people had a high opinion, got up and made a suggestion
for the men to be put outside for a little time. |
5:35 |
And
he said to them, Men of Israel, take care what you do about these men. |
5:36 |
For
before this there was Theudas, who said he was someone important, to whom
about four hundred men gave their support: he was put to death, and his band
was broken up and came to nothing. |
5:37 |
After
this man, there was Judas of Galilee, at the time of the numbering, and some
of the people went after him: he was put to death, and all his supporters
were put to flight. |
5:38 |
And
now I say to you, Do nothing to these men, but let them be: for if this
teaching or this work is of men, it will come to nothing: |
5:39 |
But
if it is of God, you will not be able to overcome them, and you are in danger
of fighting against God. |
5:40 |
And
he seemed to them to be right: and they sent for the Apostles, and, after
having them whipped and giving them orders to give no teaching in the name of
Jesus, they let them go. |
5:41 |
So
they went away from the Sanhedrin, happy to undergo shame for the Name. |
5:42 |
And
every day, in the Temple and privately, they went on teaching and preaching
Jesus as the Christ. |
6:1 |
Now
in those days, when the number of the disciples was increasing, protests were
made by the Greek Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were not
taken care of in the distribution of food every day. |
6:2 |
And
the Apostles sent for all the disciples and said, It is not right for us to
give up preaching the word of God in order to make distribution of food. |
6:3 |
Take
then from among you seven men of good name, full of the Spirit and of wisdom,
to whom we may give control of this business. |
6:4 |
Then
we will give all our time to prayer and the teaching of the word. |
6:5 |
And
this saying was pleasing to all of them: and they made selection of Stephen,
a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and
Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas of Antioch, who had become a Jew: |
6:6 |
These
they took to the Apostles, who, after prayer, put their hands on them. |
6:7 |
And
the word of God was increasing in power; and the number of the disciples in
Jerusalem became very great, and a great number of priests were in agreement
with the faith. |
6:8 |
And
Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the
people. |
6:9 |
But
some of those who were of the Synagogue named that of the Libertines, and
some of the men of Cyrene and of Alexandria and those from Cilicia and Asia,
had arguments with Stephen. |
6:10 |
But
they were not able to get the better of him, for his words were full of
wisdom and of the Spirit. |
6:11 |
Then
they got men to say, He has said evil against Moses and against God, in our
hearing. |
6:12 |
And
the people, with the rulers and the scribes, were moved against him, and they
came and took him before the Sanhedrin, |
6:13 |
And
they got False witnesses who said, This man is for ever saying things against
this holy place and against the law: |
6:14 |
For
he has said in our hearing that this Jesus of Nazareth will put this place to
destruction and make changes in the rules which were handed down to us by
Moses. |
6:15 |
And
all those who were in the Sanhedrin, looking at him, saw that his face was
like the face of an angel. |
7:1 |
Then
the high priest said, Are these things true? |
7:2 |
And
he said, My brothers and fathers, give hearing. The God of glory came to our
father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he was living in
Haran, |
7:3 |
And
said to him, Go out of your land, and away from your family, and come into
the land to which I will be your guide. |
7:4 |
Then
he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and went into Haran; and from
there, when his father was dead, he was guided by God into this land, where
you are living now: |
7:5 |
And
God gave him no heritage in it, not even enough to put his foot on: but he
gave him an undertaking that he would give it to him and to his children
after him, though he had no child at that time. |
7:6 |
And
God said that his seed would be living in a strange land, and that they would
make them servants, and be cruel to them for four hundred years. |
7:7 |
And
I will be the judge, said God, of that nation which made them servants: and
after that, they will come out and give me worship in this place. |
7:8 |
And
he made with him the agreement of which circumcision was the sign. And so
Abraham had a son, Isaac, and gave him circumcision on the eighth day; and
Isaac had a son, Jacob, and Jacob was the father of the twelve heads of the
families of Israel. |
7:9 |
And
the brothers, moved with envy against Joseph, gave him to the Egyptians for
money: but God was with him, |
7:10 |
And
made him free from all his troubles, and gave him wisdom and the approval of
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and all his house. |
7:11 |
Now
there was no food to be had in all Egypt and Canaan, and there was great
trouble: and our fathers were not able to get food. |
7:12 |
But
Jacob, hearing that there was grain in Egypt, sent out our fathers the first
time. |
7:13 |
And
the second time his brothers had a meeting with Joseph, and Pharaoh had
knowledge of Joseph's family. |
7:14 |
Then
Joseph sent for Jacob his father and all his family, seventy-five
persons. |
7:15 |
And
Jacob went down to Egypt, and came to his end there, and so did our
fathers; |
7:16 |
And
they were taken over to Shechem, and put to rest in the place which Abraham
got for a price in silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. |
7:17 |
But
when the time was near for putting into effect the undertaking which God had
given to Abraham, the people were increasing in Egypt, |
7:18 |
Till
another king came to power, who had no knowledge of Joseph. |
7:19 |
He,
having evil designs against our nation, was cruel to our fathers, and they
were forced to put out their young children, so that they might not go on
living. |
7:20 |
At
which time Moses came to birth, and he was very beautiful; and he was kept
for three months in his father's house: |
7:21 |
And
when he was put out, Pharaoh's daughter took him and kept him as her
son. |
7:22 |
And
Moses was trained in all the wisdom of Egypt, and was great in his words and
works. |
7:23 |
But
when he was almost forty years old, it came into his heart to go and see his
brothers, the children of Israel. |
7:24 |
And
seeing one of them being attacked, he went to his help and gave the Egyptian
a death-blow: |
7:25 |
And
he was hoping that his brothers would see that God had sent him to be their
saviour; but they did not see. |
7:26 |
And
the day after, he came to them, while they were having a fight, and would
have made peace between them, saying, Sirs, you are brothers; why do you do
wrong to one another? |
7:27 |
But
the man who was doing wrong to his neighbour, pushing him away, said, Who
made you a ruler and a judge over us? |
7:28 |
Will you
put me to death as you did the Egyptian yesterday? |
7:29 |
And
at these words, Moses went in flight to the land of Midian, and was living
there for a time, and had two sons. |
7:30 |
At
the end of forty years, an angel came to him in the waste land of Sinai, in
the flame of a burning thorn-tree. |
7:31 |
And
Moses, seeing it, was full of wonder, and when he came up to have a nearer
view of it, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, |
7:32 |
I
am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. And
Moses, shaking with fear, kept his eyes from looking at it. |
7:33 |
And
the Lord said, Take off the shoes from your feet, for the place where you are
is holy. |
7:34 |
Truly,
I have seen the sorrows of my people in Egypt, and their cries have come to
my ears, and I have come down to make them free: and now, come, I will send
you to Egypt. |
7:35 |
This
Moses, whom they would not have, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge?
him God sent to be a ruler and a saviour, by the hand of the angel whom he
saw in the thorn-tree. |
7:36 |
This
man took them out, having done wonders and signs in Egypt and in the Red Sea
and in the waste land, for forty years. |
7:37 |
This
is the same Moses, who said to the children of Israel, God will give you a
prophet from among your brothers, like me. |
7:38 |
This
is the man who was in the church in the waste land with the angel who was
talking to him in Sinai, and with our fathers; and to him were given the
living words of God, so that he might give them to you. |
7:39 |
By
whom our fathers would not be controlled; but they put him on one side,
turning back in their hearts to Egypt, |
7:40 |
And
saying to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: as for this Moses, who took us
out of the land of Egypt, we have no idea what has become of him. |
7:41 |
And
they made the image of a young ox in those days, and made an offering to it,
and had joy in the work of their hands. |
7:42 |
But
God was turned from them and let them give worship to the stars of heaven, as
it says in the book of the prophets, Did you make offerings to me of sheep
and oxen for forty years in the waste land, O house of Israel? |
7:43 |
And
you took up the tent of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan, images which
you made to give worship to them: and I will take you away, farther than
Babylon. |
7:44 |
Our
fathers had the Tent of witness in the waste land, as God gave orders to
Moses to make it after the design which he had seen. |
7:45 |
Which
our fathers, in their turn, took with them when, with Joshua, they came into
the heritage of the nations whom God was driving out before the face of our
fathers, till the time of David, |
7:46 |
Who
was pleasing to God; and he had a desire to make a holy tent for the God of
Jacob. |
7:47 |
But
Solomon was the builder of his house. |
7:48 |
But
still, the Most High has not his resting-place in houses made with hands, as
the prophet says, |
7:49 |
Heaven
is the seat of my power, and earth is a resting-place for my feet: what sort
of house will you make for me, says the Lord, or what is my place of
rest? |
7:50 |
Did not
my hand make all these things? |
7:51 |
You
whose hearts are hard and whose ears are shut to me; you are ever working
against the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. |
7:52 |
Which
of the prophets was not cruelly attacked by your fathers? and they put to
death those who gave them the news of the coming of the Upright One; whom you
have now given up and put to death; |
7:53 |
You,
to whom the law was given as it was ordered by angels, and who have not kept
it. |
7:54 |
Hearing
these things, they were cut to the heart and moved with wrath against
him. |
7:55 |
But
he was full of the Holy Spirit, and looking up to heaven, he saw the glory of
God and Jesus at the right hand of God. |
7:56 |
And
he said, Now I see heaven open, and the Son of man at the right hand of
God. |
7:57 |
But
with loud cries, and stopping their ears, they made an attack on him all
together, |
7:58 |
Driving
him out of the town and stoning him: and the witnesses put their clothing at
the feet of a young man named Saul. |
7:59 |
And
Stephen, while he was being stoned, made prayer to God, saying, Lord Jesus,
take my spirit. |
7:60 |
And
going down on his knees, he said in a loud voice, Lord, do not make them
responsible for this sin. And when he had said this, he went to his
rest. |
8:1 |
And
Saul gave approval to his death. Now at that time a violent attack was
started against the church in Jerusalem; and all but the Apostles went away
into all parts of Judaea and Samaria. |
8:2 |
And
God-fearing men put Stephen's body in its last resting-place, making great
weeping over him. |
8:3 |
But
Saul was burning with hate against the church, going into every house and
taking men and women and putting them in prison. |
8:4 |
But
those who had gone in flight went everywhere preaching the word. |
8:5 |
And
Philip went down to Samaria and was teaching them about Christ. |
8:6 |
And
all the people gave attention to the words which Philip said, when they saw
the signs which he did. |
8:7 |
For
unclean spirits came out from those who had them, crying with a loud voice;
and a number of those who were ill and broken in body were made well. |
8:8 |
And there
was much joy in that town. |
8:9 |
But
there was a certain man named Simon, who in the past had been a wonder-worker
and a cause of surprise to the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was
a great man: |
8:10 |
To
whom they all gave attention, from the smallest to the greatest, saying, This
man is that power of God which is named Great. |
8:11 |
And
they gave attention to him, because for a long time his wonder-working powers
had kept them under his control. |
8:12 |
But
when they had faith in the good news given by Philip about the kingdom of God
and the name of Jesus Christ, a number of men and women had baptism. |
8:13 |
And
Simon himself had faith and, having had baptism, he went with Philip and,
seeing the signs and the great wonders which he did, he was full of
surprise. |
8:14 |
Now
when the Apostles at Jerusalem had news that the people of Samaria had taken
the word of God into their hearts, they sent to them Peter and John; |
8:15 |
Who,
when they came there, made prayer for them, that the Holy Spirit might be
given to them: |
8:16 |
For
up to that time he had not come on any of them; only baptism had been given
to them in the name of the Lord Jesus. |
8:17 |
Then
they put their hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came on them. |
8:18 |
Now
when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the touch of the
Apostles' hands, he made them an offering of money, saying, |
8:19 |
Give
me this power, so that when I put my hands on anyone he may get the Holy
Spirit. |
8:20 |
But
Peter said, May your money come to destruction with you, because you had the
idea that what is freely given by God may be got for a price. |
8:21 |
You
have no part in this business, because your heart is not right before
God. |
8:22 |
Let
your heart be changed, and make prayer to God that you may have forgiveness
for your evil thoughts. |
8:23 |
For
I see that you are prisoned in bitter envy and the chains of sin. |
8:24 |
And
Simon, answering, said, Make prayer for me to the Lord, so that these things
which you have said may not come on me. |
8:25 |
So
they, having given their witness and made clear the word of the Lord, went
back to Jerusalem, giving the good news on their way in a number of the small
towns of Samaria. |
8:26 |
But
an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Get up, and go to the south, to the road
which goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, through the waste land. |
8:27 |
And
he went and there was a man of Ethiopia, a servant of great authority under
Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, and controller of all her property, who had
come up to Jerusalem for worship; |
8:28 |
He
was going back, seated in his carriage, and was reading the book of the
prophet Isaiah. |
8:29 |
And
the Spirit said to Philip, Go near, and get on his carriage. |
8:30 |
And
Philip, running up to him, saw that he was reading Isaiah the prophet, and
said to him, Is the sense of what you are reading clear to you? |
8:31 |
And
he said, How is that possible when I have no guide? And he made Philip get up
by his side. |
8:32 |
Now
the place in the book where he was reading was this: He was taken, like a
sheep, to be put to death; and as a lamb is quiet when its wool is being cut,
so he made no sound: |
8:33 |
Being
of low degree, his cause was not given a hearing: who has knowledge of his
family? for his life is cut off from the earth. |
8:34 |
And
the Ethiopian said to Philip, About whom are these words said by the prophet?
about himself, or some other? |
8:35 |
So
Philip, starting from this writing, gave him the good news about Jesus. |
8:36 |
And
while they were going on their way, they came to some water, and the
Ethiopian said, See, here is water; why may I not have baptism? |
8:37 |
[] |
8:38 |
And
he gave orders for the carriage to be stopped, and the two of them went down
into the water, and Philip gave him baptism. |
8:39 |
And
when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away;
and the Ethiopian saw him no more, for he went on his way full of joy. |
8:40 |
But
Philip came to Azotus, and went through all the towns, preaching the good
news, till he came to Caesarea. |
9:1 |
But
Saul, still burning with desire to put to death the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high priest, |
9:2 |
And
made a request for letters from him to the Synagogues of Damascus, so that if
there were any of the Way there, men or women, he might take them as
prisoners to Jerusalem. |
9:3 |
And
while he was journeying, he came near Damascus; and suddenly he saw a light
from heaven shining round him; |
9:4 |
And
he went down on the earth, and a voice said to him, Saul, Saul, why are you
attacking me so cruelly? |
9:5 |
And
he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are
attacking: |
9:6 |
But
get up, and go into the town, and it will be made clear to you what you have
to do. |
9:7 |
And
the men who were with him were not able to say anything; hearing the voice,
but seeing no one. |
9:8 |
And
Saul got up from the earth, and when his eyes were open, he saw nothing; and
he was guided by the hand into Damascus. |
9:9 |
And
for three days he was not able to see, and he took no food or drink. |
9:10 |
Now
there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and the Lord said to
him in a vision, Ananias! and he said, Here I am, Lord. |
9:11 |
And
the Lord said to him, Get up, and go to the street which is named Straight,
and make search at the house of Judas for one named Saul of Tarsus: for he is
at prayer; |
9:12 |
And
he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hands on him, so
that he may be able to see. |
9:13 |
But
Ananias said, Lord, I have had accounts of this man from a number of people,
how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem: |
9:14 |
And
here he has authority from the chief priests to make prisoners all who give
worship to your name. |
9:15 |
But
the Lord said, Go without fear: for he is a special vessel for me, to give to
the Gentiles and kings and to the children of Israel the knowledge of my
name: |
9:16 |
For
I will make clear to him what troubles he will have to undergo for me. |
9:17 |
And
Ananias went out and came to the house, and putting his hands on him, said,
Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, whom you saw when you were on your journey, has
sent me, so that you may be able to see, and be full of the Holy Spirit. |
9:18 |
And
straight away it seemed as if a veil was taken from his eyes, and he was able
to see; and he got up, and had baptism; |
9:19 |
And
when he had taken food his strength came back. And for some days he kept with
the disciples who were in Damascus. |
9:20 |
And
straight away, in the Synagogues, he was preaching Jesus as the Son of
God. |
9:21 |
And
all those hearing him were full of wonder and said, Is not this the man who
in Jerusalem was attacking all the worshippers of this name? and he had come
here so that he might take them as prisoners before the chief priests. |
9:22 |
But
Saul went on increasing in power, and the Jews in Damascus were not able to
give answers to the arguments by which he made it clear that Jesus was the
Christ. |
9:23 |
Then,
after some days, the Jews made an agreement together to put him to
death: |
9:24 |
But
Saul got knowledge of their design. And they kept watch day and night on the
roads out of the town, so that they might put him to death: |
9:25 |
But
his disciples took him by night and let him down from the wall in a
basket. |
9:26 |
And
when he came to Jerusalem, he made an attempt to be joined to the disciples,
but they were all in fear of him, not taking him for a disciple. |
9:27 |
But
Barnabas took him to the Apostles and gave them an account of how he had seen
the Lord on the road, and had given hearing to his words, and how at Damascus
he had been preaching in the name of Jesus without fear. |
9:28 |
And he was with
them, going in and out at Jerusalem, |
9:29 |
Preaching
in the name of the Lord without fear; and he had discussions with the Greek
Jews; but they were working for his death. |
9:30 |
And
when the brothers had knowledge of it, they took him to Caesarea and sent him
to Tarsus. |
9:31 |
And
so the church through all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was
made strong; and, living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the
Holy Spirit, was increased greatly. |
9:32 |
And
it came about that while Peter was going through all parts of the country he
came to the saints who were living at Lydda. |
9:33 |
And
there was a certain man there, named Aeneas, who for eight years had been in
bed, without power of moving. |
9:34 |
And
Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you well: get up and make your
bed. And straight away he got up. |
9:35 |
And
all those living in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and were turned to the
Lord. |
9:36 |
Now
there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, that is, Dorcas: this
woman was given to good works and acts of mercy at all times. |
9:37 |
And
it came about, in those days, that she got ill and came to her death: and
when she had been washed, they put her in a room which was high up. |
9:38 |
And
because Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having knowledge that Peter was
there, sent two men to him, requesting him to come to them straight
away. |
9:39 |
And
Peter went with them. And when he had come, they took him into the room: and
all the widows were there, weeping and putting before him the coats and
clothing which Dorcas had made while she was with them. |
9:40 |
But
Peter made them all go outside, and went down on his knees in prayer; and
turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, get up. And, opening her eyes, she saw
Peter and got up. |
9:41 |
And
he took her hand, lifting her up; and, sending for the saints and widows, he
gave her to them, living. |
9:42 |
And
news of it went all through Joppa, and a number of people had faith in the
Lord. |
9:43 |
And
he was living in Joppa for some time with Simon, a leather-worker. |
10:1 |
Now
there was a certain man in Caesarea, named Cornelius, the captain of the
Italian band of the army; |
10:2 |
A
serious-minded man, fearing God with all his family; he gave much money to
the poor, and made prayer to God at all times. |
10:3 |
He
saw in a vision, clearly, at about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of the
Lord coming to him and saying to him, Cornelius! |
10:4 |
And
he, looking on him in fear, said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Your
prayers and your offerings have come up to God, and he has kept them in
mind. |
10:5 |
Now send men
to Joppa, and get one Simon, named Peter, |
10:6 |
Who
is living with Simon, a leather-worker, whose house is by the sea. |
10:7 |
And
when the angel who said these words to him had gone away, he sent for two of
his house-servants, and a God-fearing man of the army, one of those who were
waiting on him at all times; |
10:8 |
And
having given them an account of everything, he sent them to Joppa. |
10:9 |
Now
the day after, when they were on their journey and were near the town, Peter
went up to the top of the house for prayer, about the sixth hour: |
10:10 |
And
he was in need of food: but while they were getting it ready, a deep sleep
came on him; |
10:11 |
And
he saw the heavens opening, and a vessel coming down, like a great cloth let
down on the earth, |
10:12 |
In
which were all sorts of beasts and birds. |
10:13 |
And
a voice came to him, saying, Come, Peter; take them for food. |
10:14 |
But
Peter said, No, Lord; for I have never taken food which is common or
unclean. |
10:15 |
And
the voice came to him a second time, What God has made clean, do not you make
common. |
10:16 |
And
this was done three times: and then the vessel was taken back into
heaven. |
10:17 |
Now
while Peter was in doubt as to the purpose of this vision, the men who were
sent by Cornelius, having made search for Simon's house, came to the
door, |
10:18 |
To
see if Simon, named Peter, was living there. |
10:19 |
And,
while Peter was turning the vision over in his mind, the Spirit said to him,
See, three men are looking for you. |
10:20 |
Go
down, then, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them. |
10:21 |
And
Peter went down to the men, and said, I am the man you are looking for: why
have you come? |
10:22 |
And
they said, Cornelius, a captain, an upright and God-fearing man, respected by
all the nation of the Jews, had word from God by an angel to send for you to
his house, and to give hearing to your words. |
10:23 |
So
he took them in for the night. And the day after, he went with them, taking
some of the brothers from Joppa with him. |
10:24 |
And
the day after that, they came to Caesarea. And Cornelius was waiting for
them, having got together his relations and his near friends. |
10:25 |
And
when Peter came in, Cornelius came to him and, falling down at his feet, gave
him worship. |
10:26 |
But
Peter, lifting him up, said, Get up, for I am a man as you are. |
10:27 |
And
saying these words, he went in, and saw that a great number of people had
come together; |
10:28 |
And
he said to them, You yourselves have knowledge that it is against the law for
a man who is a Jew to be in the company of one who is of another nation; but
God has made it clear to me that no man may be named common or unclean: |
10:29 |
And
so I came without question, when I was sent for. What then is your purpose in
sending for me? |
10:30 |
And
Cornelius said, Four days from now I was in my house in prayer at the ninth
hour; and I saw before me a man in shining clothing, |
10:31 |
Who
said, Cornelius, your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your offerings
are kept in his memory. |
10:32 |
Send,
then, to Joppa, and get Simon, named Peter, to come to you; he is living in
the house of Simon, a leather-worker, by the sea. |
10:33 |
So,
straight away, I sent for you; and you have done well to come. And now, we
are all present before God, ready to give attention to all the things which
the Lord has given you to say. |
10:34 |
Then
Peter said, Truly, I see clearly that God is no respecter of persons: |
10:35 |
But
in every nation, the man who has fear of him and does righteousness is
pleasing to him. |
10:36 |
The
word which he sent to the children of Israel, giving the good news of peace
through Jesus Christ (who is Lord of all)-- |
10:37 |
That
word you yourselves have knowledge of, which was made public through all
Judaea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism of which John was the
preacher, |
10:38 |
About
Jesus of Nazareth, how God gave the Holy Spirit to him, with power: and how
he went about doing good and making well all who were troubled by evil
spirits, for God was with him. |
10:39 |
And
we are witnesses of all the things which he did in the country of the Jews
and in Jerusalem; whom they put to death, hanging him on a tree. |
10:40 |
On
the third day God gave him back to life, and let him be seen, |
10:41 |
Not
by all the people, but by witnesses marked out before by God, even by us, who
took food and drink with him after he came back from the dead. |
10:42 |
And
he gave us orders to give news of this to the people, and to give public
witness that this is he whom God has made judge of the living and the
dead. |
10:43 |
To
him all the prophets give witness, that through his name everyone who has
faith in him will have forgiveness of sins. |
10:44 |
While
Peter was saying these words, the Holy Spirit came on all those who were
hearing the word. |
10:45 |
And
the Jews of the faith, who had come with Peter, were full of wonder, because
the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles, |
10:46 |
And
they were talking in tongues, and giving glory to God. Then Peter said, |
10:47 |
Will
any man say that these may not have baptism who have been given the Holy
Spirit as we have? |
10:48 |
And
he gave orders for them to have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. Then
they kept him with them for some days. |
11:1 |
Now
the Apostles and the brothers who were in Judaea had news that the word of
God had been given to the Gentiles. |
11:2 |
And
when Peter came to Jerusalem, those who kept the rule of circumcision had an
argument with him, |
11:3 |
Saying,
You went to men without circumcision, and took food with them. |
11:4 |
But
Peter gave them an account of it all in order, saying to them, |
11:5 |
I
was in the town of Joppa, at prayer: and falling into a deep sleep, I saw in
a vision a vessel like a great cloth let down from heaven, and it came down
to me: |
11:6 |
And
looking on it with attention I saw in it all sorts of beasts and birds. |
11:7 |
And
a voice came to my ears saying, Come, Peter; take them for food. |
11:8 |
But
I said, No, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever come into my
mouth. |
11:9 |
But
the voice, coming a second time from heaven, said, What God has made clean,
do not you make common. |
11:10 |
And
this was done three times, and they were all taken up again into heaven. |
11:11 |
And
at that minute, three men, sent from Caesarea, came to the house where we
were. |
11:12 |
And
the Spirit gave me orders to go with them, doubting nothing. And these six
brothers came with me; and we went into that man's house: |
11:13 |
And
he gave us an account of how he had seen the angel in his house, saying, Send
to Joppa, and get Simon, named Peter, to come to you; |
11:14 |
Who
will say words to you through which you and all your family may get
salvation. |
11:15 |
And,
while I was talking to them, the Holy Spirit came on them, as on us at
first. |
11:16 |
And
the words of the Lord came into my mind, how he said, The baptism of John was
with water, but you will have baptism with the Holy Spirit. |
11:17 |
If
then God gave them, when they had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the same as
he gave to us, who was I to go against God? |
11:18 |
And
hearing these things they said nothing more, but gave glory to God, saying,
Then to the Gentiles as to us has God given a change of heart, so that they
may have life. |
11:19 |
Then
those who had gone away at the time of the trouble about Stephen, went as far
as Phoenicia and Cyprus, preaching to the Jews only. |
11:20 |
But
some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, when they came to Antioch, gave the
good news about the Lord Jesus to the Greeks. |
11:21 |
And
the power of the Lord was with them, and a great number had faith and were
turned to the Lord. |
11:22 |
And
news of them came to the ears of the church at Jerusalem: and they sent
Barnabas as far as Antioch: |
11:23 |
Who,
when he came and saw the grace of God, was glad; and he made clear to them
the need of keeping near the Lord with all the strength of their hearts: |
11:24 |
For
he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith: and a great
number were joined to the Lord. |
11:25 |
Then
he went on to Tarsus, looking for Saul; |
11:26 |
And
when he had come across him, he took him to Antioch. And they were with the
church there for a year, teaching the people; and the disciples were first
given the name of Christians in Antioch. |
11:27 |
Now in
those days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. |
11:28 |
And
one of them, named Agabus, said publicly through the Spirit that there would
be serious need of food all over the earth: which came about in the time of
Claudius. |
11:29 |
And
the disciples, everyone as he was able, made a decision to send help to the
brothers living in Judaea: |
11:30 |
Which
they did, sending it to the rulers of the church by the hand of Barnabas and
Saul. |
12:1 |
Now,
about that time, Herod the king made cruel attacks on the Christians. |
12:2 |
And
he put James, the brother of John, to death with the sword. |
12:3 |
And
when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he went on to take Peter in
addition. This was at the time of the feast of unleavened bread. |
12:4 |
And
having taken him, he put him in prison, with four bands of armed men to keep
watch over him; his purpose being to take him out to the people after the
Passover. |
12:5 |
So
Peter was kept in prison: but the church made strong prayer to God for
him. |
12:6 |
And
when Herod was about to take him out, the same night Peter was sleeping in
chains between two armed men, and the watchmen were keeping watch before the
door of the prison. |
12:7 |
And
a great light was seen shining in the room, and an angel of the Lord came to
Peter and, touching him on his side so that he came out of his sleep, said,
Get up quickly. And his chains came off his hands. |
12:8 |
Then
the angel said, Put on your shoes and get ready to go. And he did so. And he
said, Put your coat round you and come with me. |
12:9 |
And
he went out after him; and he was not certain if what was done by the angel
was a fact, for it seemed to him that he was seeing a vision. |
12:10 |
And
when they had gone past the first and second watchmen they came to the iron
door into the town, which came open by itself: and they went out and down one
street; and then the angel went away. |
12:11 |
And
when Peter came to his senses he said, Now, truly, I am certain that the Lord
has sent his angel and taken me out of the hands of Herod, against all the
hopes of the Jews. |
12:12 |
And
when he became clear about this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of
John named Mark, where a number of them had come together for prayer. |
12:13 |
And
he gave a blow on the door, and a young girl came to it, named Rhoda. |
12:14 |
And
hearing the voice of Peter, in her joy she went running, without opening the
door, to say that Peter was outside. |
12:15 |
And
they said to her, You are off your head. But still she said, with decision,
that it was so. And they said, It is his angel. |
12:16 |
But
Peter went on giving blows on the door: and when it was open and they saw
him, they were full of wonder. |
12:17 |
But
he made a sign to them with his hand to be quiet, and gave them an account of
how the Lord had taken him out of prison. And he said, Give the news to James
and the brothers. And then he went away. |
12:18 |
Now
when it was day, the armed men were greatly troubled about what had become of
Peter. |
12:19 |
And
Herod, when he sent for him, and he was not there, after questioning the
watchmen, gave orders that they were to be put to death. Then he went down
from Judaea to Caesarea for a time. |
12:20 |
Now
he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon: and they came to him,
all together, and having made friends with Blastus, the controller of the
king's house, they made a request for peace, because their country was
dependent on the king's country for its food. |
12:21 |
And
on the day which had been fixed, Herod, dressed in his robes and seated in
his place, made a public statement to them. |
12:22 |
And
the people, with loud cries, said, It is the voice of a god, not of a
man. |
12:23 |
And
straight away the angel of the Lord sent a disease on him, because he did not
give the glory to God: and his flesh was wasted away by worms, and so he came
to his end. |
12:24 |
But
the word of the Lord went on increasing. |
12:25 |
And
Barnabas and Saul came back from Jerusalem, when their work was ended, taking
with them John named Mark. |
13:1 |
Now
there were at Antioch, in the church there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas,
and Symeon who was named Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, a relation
of Herod the king, and Saul. |
13:2 |
And
while they were doing the Lord's work, and going without food, the Holy
Spirit said, Let Barnabas and Saul be given to me for the special work for
which they have been marked out by me. |
13:3 |
Then,
after prayer and going without food they put their hands on them, and sent
them away. |
13:4 |
So,
being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there
they went by ship to Cyprus. |
13:5 |
And
at Salamis they were preaching the word of God in the Synagogues of the Jews:
and John was with them, helping them. |
13:6 |
And
when they had gone through all the island to Paphos, they came across a
certain wonder-worker and False prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus; |
13:7 |
Who
was with the ruler, Sergius Paulus, an able man. This man sent for Barnabas
and Saul, desiring to have knowledge of the word of God. |
13:8 |
But
Elymas, the wonder-worker (for that is the sense of his name), put himself
against them, with the purpose of turning the ruler from the faith. |
13:9 |
But
Saul, whose other name is Paul, being full of the Holy Spirit, looking hard
at him, said, |
13:10 |
O
you, who are full of False tricks and evil ways, a son of the Evil One,
hating all righteousness, will you for ever be turning people from the right
ways of the Lord? |
13:11 |
And
now, see, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind and not able
to see the sun for a time. And straight away a dark mist came down on him;
and he went about looking for a guide. |
13:12 |
Then
the ruler, when he saw what was done, had faith, being full of wonder at the
teaching of the Lord. |
13:13 |
Then
Paul and those who were with him went by ship from Paphos and came to Perga
in Pamphylia: and there John went away from them and came back to
Jerusalem. |
13:14 |
But
they, going through from Perga, came to Antioch in Pisidia; and they went
into the Synagogue on the Sabbath and were seated. |
13:15 |
And
after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the Synagogue
sent to them, saying, Brothers, if you have a word of comfort for the people,
say on. |
13:16 |
And
Paul, getting up and making a sign with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and
you who have the fear of God, give ear. |
13:17 |
The
God of this people Israel made selection of our fathers, lifting the people
up from their low condition when they were living in the land of Egypt, and
with a strong arm took them out of it. |
13:18 |
And
for about forty years he put up with their ways in the waste land. |
13:19 |
And
having put to destruction seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them
the land for their heritage for about four hundred and fifty years. |
13:20 |
And
after these things he gave them judges, till the time of Samuel the
prophet. |
13:21 |
Then
at their request for a king, God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of
the family of Benjamin, who was their king for forty years. |
13:22 |
And
having put him on one side, he made David their king, to whom he gave
witness, saying, I have taken David, the son of Jesse, a man dear to my
heart, who will do all my pleasure. |
13:23 |
From
this man's seed has God given to Israel a Saviour, even Jesus, as he gave his
word; |
13:24 |
For
whose coming John made ready the way by preaching to all the people of Israel
the baptism which goes with a change of heart. |
13:25 |
And
when John was completing his work, he said, What do I seem to you to be? I am
not he; but one is coming after me, whose shoes I am not good enough to
undo. |
13:26 |
My
brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those among you who have the
fear of God, to us the word of this salvation is sent. |
13:27 |
For
the men of Jerusalem and their rulers, having no knowledge of him, or of the
sayings of the prophets which come to their ears every Sabbath day, gave
effect to them by judging him. |
13:28 |
And
though no cause of death was seen in him, they made a request to Pilate that
he might be put to death. |
13:29 |
And
when they had done all the things said in the Writings about him, they took
him down from the tree, and put him in the place of the dead. |
13:30 |
But God
gave him back from the dead: |
13:31 |
And
for a number of days he was seen by those who came with him from Galilee to
Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses before the people. |
13:32 |
And
we are giving you the good news of the undertaking made to the fathers, |
13:33 |
Which
God has now put into effect for our children, by sending Jesus; as it says in
the second Psalm, You are my Son; this day I have given you being. |
13:34 |
And
about his coming back from the dead, never again to go to destruction, he has
said these words, I will give you the holy and certain mercies of David. |
13:35 |
Because
he says in another Psalm, You will not let your Holy One see
destruction. |
13:36 |
Now
David, having done God's work for his generation, went to sleep, and was put
with his fathers, and his body came to destruction: |
13:37 |
But he,
who was lifted up by God, did not see destruction. |
13:38 |
And
so, let it be clear to you, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of
sins is offered to you: |
13:39 |
And
through him everyone who has faith is made free from all those things, from
which the law of Moses was not able to make you free. |
13:40 |
So
take care that these words of the prophets do not come True for you; |
13:41 |
See,
you doubters, have wonder and come to your end; for I will do a thing in your
days to which you will not give belief, even if it is made clear to you. |
13:42 |
And
when they went out, they made a request that these words might be said to
them again on the Sabbath after. |
13:43 |
Now
when the meeting was ended, a number of the Jews and of the God-fearing
Gentiles who had become Jews, went after Paul and Barnabas: who put before
them how important it was to keep on in the grace of God. |
13:44 |
And
on the Sabbath after, almost all the town came together to give hearing to
the word of God. |
13:45 |
But
when the Jews saw such a great number of people, they were full of envy and
said evil words against Paul's preaching. |
13:46 |
Then
Paul and Barnabas without fear said, It was necessary for the word of God to
be given to you first; but because you will have nothing to do with it, and
have no desire for eternal life, it will now be offered to the Gentiles. |
13:47 |
For
so the Lord has given us orders, saying, I have given you for a light to the
Gentiles so that you may be for salvation to the ends of the earth. |
13:48 |
And
the Gentiles, hearing this, were glad and gave glory to the word of God: and
those marked out by God for eternal life had faith. |
13:49 |
And the word
of the Lord went through all the country. |
13:50 |
But
the Jews, working up the feelings of the God-fearing women of high position
and of the chief men of the town, got an attack started against Paul and
Barnabas, driving them out of those parts. |
13:51 |
But
they, shaking off the dust of that place from their feet, came to
Iconium. |
13:52 |
And the
disciples were full of joy and of the Holy Spirit. |
14:1 |
Now
in Iconium they went together to the Synagogue of the Jews and gave such
teaching that a great number of Jews and Greeks had faith. |
14:2 |
But
those Jews who had not the faith, made the minds of the Gentiles bitter
against the brothers. |
14:3 |
So
they kept there for a long time, taking heart in the Lord, who gave witness
to the word of his grace by causing signs and wonders to be done by their
hands. |
14:4 |
But
there was a division among the people of the town; some were on the side of
the Jews and some on the side of the Apostles. |
14:5 |
And
when a violent attempt was made by the Gentiles and the Jews, with their
rulers, to make an attack on them and have them stoned, |
14:6 |
Having
got news of it, they went in flight to the towns of Lycaonia, Lystra, and
Derbe, and the country round about: |
14:7 |
And
went on preaching the good news there. |
14:8 |
And
at Lystra there was a certain man, who from birth had been without the use of
his feet, never having had the power of walking. |
14:9 |
This
man was giving ear to the preaching of Paul, who, looking at him, and seeing
that he had faith to be made well, |
14:10 |
Said
in a loud voice, Get up on your feet. And, jumping up, he went walking
about. |
14:11 |
And
when the people saw what Paul had done, they said in a loud voice, in the
language of Lycaonia, The gods have come down to us in the form of men. |
14:12 |
And
they gave the name of Jupiter to Barnabas, and to Paul that of Mercury,
because he was the chief talker. |
14:13 |
And
the priest of the image of Jupiter, which was before the town, took oxen and
flowers to the doors of the town, and was about to make an offering with the
people. |
14:14 |
But
when this came to the ears of the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas, they went
running out among the people, parting their clothing, and crying out, |
14:15 |
Good
people, why are you doing these things? We are men with the same feelings as
you, and we give you the good news so that you may be turned away from these
foolish things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the
sea and all things in them: |
14:16 |
Who
in the past let all nations go in the ways which seemed good to them. |
14:17 |
But
he was not without witness, because he did good, and gave you rain from
heaven and times of fruit, making your hearts full of food and joy. |
14:18 |
And
even with these words, it was hard for them to keep the people from making an
offering to them. |
14:19 |
But
some Jews came to that place from Antioch and Iconium, and got control over
the people; and after stoning Paul, they had him pulled out of the town,
taking him for dead. |
14:20 |
But
when the disciples came round him, he got up and went into the town: and the
day after he went away with Barnabas to Derbe. |
14:21 |
And
having made a number of disciples through the preaching of the good news in
that town, they went back to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch, |
14:22 |
Making
strong the souls of the disciples, saying to them that they were to keep the
faith, and that we have to go through troubles of all sorts to come into the
kingdom of God. |
14:23 |
And
when they had made selection of some to be rulers in every church, and had
given themselves to prayer and kept themselves from food, they put them into
the care of the Lord in whom they had faith. |
14:24 |
And they went
through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. |
14:25 |
And,
after preaching the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia; |
14:26 |
And
from there they went by ship to Antioch, where they had been handed over to
the grace of God for the work which they had not done. |
14:27 |
And
when they came there, and had got the church together, they gave them an
account of all the things which God had done through them, and how he had
made open a door of faith to the Gentiles. |
14:28 |
And they
were with the disciples there for a long time. |
15:1 |
Now
certain men came down from Judaea, teaching the brothers and saying that
without circumcision, after the rule of Moses, there is no salvation. |
15:2 |
And
after Paul and Barnabas had had no little argument and discussion with them,
the brothers made a decision to send Paul and Barnabas and certain others of
them to the Apostles and the rulers of the church at Jerusalem about this
question. |
15:3 |
So
they, being sent on their way by the church, went through Phoenicia and
Samaria, giving news of the salvation of the Gentiles, to the great joy of
all the brothers. |
15:4 |
And
when they came to Jerusalem, they had a meeting with the church and the
Apostles and the rulers, and they gave an account of all the things which God
had done through them. |
15:5 |
But
some of the Pharisees, who were of the faith, got up and said, It is
necessary for these to have circumcision and to keep the law of Moses. |
15:6 |
And
the Apostles and the rulers of the church came together and gave thought to
the question. |
15:7 |
And
when there had been much discussion, Peter got up and said to them, My
brothers, you have knowledge that some time back it was God's pleasure that
by my mouth the good news might be given to the Gentiles so that they might
have faith. |
15:8 |
And
God, the searcher of hearts, was a witness to them, giving them the Holy
Spirit even as he did to us; |
15:9 |
Making
no division between them and us, but making clean their hearts by faith. |
15:10 |
Why
then are you testing God, by putting on the neck of the disciples a yoke so
hard that not even our fathers or we were strong enough for it? |
15:11 |
But
we have faith that we will get salvation through the grace of the Lord Jesus
in the same way as they. |
15:12 |
And
all the people were quiet while Barnabas and Paul gave an account of the
signs and wonders which God had done among the Gentiles by them. |
15:13 |
And
when they had come to an end, James, answering, said, My brothers, give ear
to me: |
15:14 |
Symeon
has given an account of how God was first pleased to take from among the
Gentiles a people for himself. |
15:15 |
And
this is in agreement with the words of the prophets, as it is said, |
15:16 |
After
these things I will come back, and will put up the tent of David which has
been broken down, building up again its broken parts and making it
complete: |
15:17 |
So
that the rest of men may make search for the Lord, and all the Gentiles on
whom my name is named, |
15:18 |
Says
the Lord, who has made these things clear from the earliest times. |
15:19 |
For
this reason my decision is, that we do not put trouble in the way of those
who from among the Gentiles are turned to God; |
15:20 |
But
that we give them orders to keep themselves from things offered to False
gods, and from the evil desires of the body, and from the flesh of animals
put to death in ways against the law, and from blood. |
15:21 |
For
Moses, from times long past, has his preachers in every town, reading his law
in the Synagogues every Sabbath. |
15:22 |
Then
it seemed good to the Apostles and the rulers and all the church, to send men
from among them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; Judas, named Barsabbas,
and Silas, chief men among the brothers: |
15:23 |
And
they sent a letter by them, saying, The Apostles and the older brothers, to
the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, may
joy be with you: |
15:24 |
Because
we have knowledge that some who went from us have been troubling you with
their words, putting your souls in doubt; to whom we gave no such order; |
15:25 |
It
seemed good to us, having come to an agreement together, to send these men to
you, with our well loved Barnabas and Paul, |
15:26 |
Men
who have given up their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
15:27 |
And
so we have sent Judas and Silas, who will say the same things to you
themselves, by word of mouth. |
15:28 |
For
it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to put on you nothing more than
these necessary things; |
15:29 |
To
keep from things offered to False gods, and from blood, and from things put
to death in ways which are against the law, and from the evil desires of the
body; if you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. May you be happy. |
15:30 |
So
they, being sent away, came down to Antioch, and having got the people
together, they gave them the letter. |
15:31 |
And after
reading it, they were glad of its comfort. |
15:32 |
And
Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, gave teaching to the brothers
and made them strong in the faith. |
15:33 |
And
when they had been there for some time, they were sent back in peace by the
brothers to those who had sent them. |
15:34 |
[] |
15:35 |
But
Paul and Barnabas kept on in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of God,
with a number of others. |
15:36 |
And
after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, Let us go back and see the brothers
in every town where we have given the word of God, and see how they are. |
15:37 |
And
Barnabas had a desire to take with them John, named Mark. |
15:38 |
But
Paul was of the opinion that it was not right to take with them one who had
gone away from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone on with the work. |
15:39 |
And
there was a sharp argument between them, so that they were parted from one
another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and went by ship to Cyprus; |
15:40 |
But
Paul took Silas and went away with the blessing of the brothers. |
15:41 |
And
he went through Syria and Cilicia, making the churches stronger in the
faith. |
16:1 |
And
he came to Derbe and Lystra: and there was a certain disciple there named
Timothy, whose mother was one of the Jews of the faith, but his father was a
Greek; |
16:2 |
Of
whom the brothers at Lystra and Iconium had a high opinion. |
16:3 |
Paul
had a desire for him to go with him, and he gave him circumcision because of
the Jews who were in those parts: for they all had knowledge that his father
was a Greek. |
16:4 |
And
on their way through the towns, they gave them the rules which had been made
by the Apostles and the rulers of the church at Jerusalem, so that they might
keep them. |
16:5 |
So
the churches were made strong in the faith and were increased in number every
day. |
16:6 |
And
after they had gone through the land of Phrygia and Galatia, the Holy Spirit
did not let them take the word into Asia; |
16:7 |
And
having come to Mysia, they made an attempt to go into Bithynia, but the
Spirit of Jesus did not let them; |
16:8 |
And
going past Mysia, they came down to Troas. |
16:9 |
And
Paul had a vision in the night; a man of Macedonia came, requesting him, and
saying, Come over into Macedonia and give us help. |
16:10 |
And
when he had seen the vision, straight away we made the decision to go into
Macedonia, for it seemed certain to us that God had sent us to give the good
news to them. |
16:11 |
So,
from Troas we went straight by ship to Samothrace and the day after to
Neapolis; |
16:12 |
And
from there to Philippi, which is the most important town of Macedonia and a
Roman colony: and we were there for some days. |
16:13 |
And
on the Sabbath we went outside the town, by the river, where we had an idea
that there would be a place of prayer; and, being seated, we had talk with
the women who had come together. |
16:14 |
And
a certain woman named Lydia, a trader in purple cloth of the town of
Thyatira, and a God-fearing woman, gave ear to us: whose heart the Lord made
open to give attention to the things which Paul was saying. |
16:15 |
And
when she and her family had had baptism, she made a request to us, saying, If
it seems to you that I am True to the Lord, come into my house and be my
guests. And she made us come. |
16:16 |
And
when we were going to the place of prayer, we came across a girl with a
spirit which gave knowledge of the future, whose masters made great profit
from her power. |
16:17 |
She
came after Paul and us, crying out and saying, These men are the servants of
the Most High God, who are giving you news of the way of salvation. |
16:18 |
And
this she did on a number of days. But Paul was greatly troubled and, turning,
said to the spirit, I give you orders in the name of Jesus Christ, to come
out of her. And it came out that very hour. |
16:19 |
But
when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they took Paul and
Silas, pulling them into the market-place before the rulers; |
16:20 |
And
when they had taken them before the authorities, they said, These men, who
are Jews, are greatly troubling our town; |
16:21 |
Teaching
rules of living which it is not right for us to have or to keep, being
Romans. |
16:22 |
And
the people made an attack on them all together: and the authorities took
their clothing off them, and gave orders for them to be whipped. |
16:23 |
And
when they had given them a great number of blows, they put them in prison,
giving orders to the keeper of the prison to keep them safely: |
16:24 |
And
he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their
feet. |
16:25 |
But
about the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were making prayers and songs
to God in the hearing of the prisoners; |
16:26 |
And
suddenly there was an earth-shock, so that the base of the prison was moved:
and all the doors came open, and everyone's chains came off. |
16:27 |
And
the keeper, coming out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, took
his sword and was about to put himself to death, fearing that the prisoners
had got away. |
16:28 |
But
Paul said in a loud voice, Do yourself no damage, for we are all here. |
16:29 |
And
he sent for lights and came rushing in and, shaking with fear, went down on
his face before Paul and Silas, |
16:30 |
And
took them out and said, Sirs, what have I to do to get salvation? |
16:31 |
And
they said, Have faith in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will have
salvation. |
16:32 |
And
they gave the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. |
16:33 |
And
that same hour of the night, he took them, and when he had given attention to
their wounds, he and all his family had baptism straight away. |
16:34 |
And
he took them into his house and gave them food, and he was full of joy,
having faith in God with all his family. |
16:35 |
But
when it was day, the authorities sent the police, saying, Let these men
go. |
16:36 |
And
the keeper said to Paul, The authorities have given orders to let you go:
come out now, and go in peace. |
16:37 |
But
Paul said to them, They have given us who are Romans a public whipping
without judging us, and have put us in prison. Will they now send us out
secretly? no, truly, let them come themselves and take us out. |
16:38 |
And
the police gave an account of these words to the authorities, and they were
full of fear on hearing that they were Romans; |
16:39 |
Then
they came and made prayers to them, requesting them, when they had taken them
out, to go away from the town. |
16:40 |
And
they came out of the prison and went to the house of Lydia: and when they had
seen the brothers they gave them comfort and went away. |
17:1 |
Now
when they had gone through Amphipolis and Apollonia they came to
Thessalonica, where there was a Synagogue of the Jews: |
17:2 |
And
Paul, as he generally did, went in to them, and on three Sabbath days had
discussions with them from the holy Writings, |
17:3 |
Saying
to them clearly and openly that Christ had to be put to death and come back
to life again; and that this Jesus, whom, he said, I am preaching to you, is
the Christ. |
17:4 |
And
some of them had faith, and were joined to Paul and Silas; and a number of
the God-fearing Greeks, and some of the chief women. |
17:5 |
But
the Jews, being moved with envy, took with them certain low persons from
among the common people, and getting together a great number of people, made
an outcry in the town, attacking the house of Jason with the purpose of
taking them out to the people. |
17:6 |
And
when they were not able to get them, they took Jason and some of the brothers
by force before the rulers of the town, crying, These men, who have made
trouble all over the world have now come here; |
17:7 |
Whom
Jason has taken into his house: and they are acting against the orders of
Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus. |
17:8 |
And
hearing these things the people and the rulers of the town were
troubled. |
17:9 |
And
having made Jason and the others give an undertaking to keep the peace, they
let them go. |
17:10 |
And
the brothers straight away sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea: and
they, when they came there, went to the Synagogue of the Jews. |
17:11 |
Now
these were more noble than the Jews of Thessalonica, for they gave serious
attention to the word, searching in the holy Writings every day, to see if
these things were so. |
17:12 |
And
a number of them had faith, and no small number of the Greek women of high
position and of the men. |
17:13 |
But
when the Jews of Thessalonica had news that Paul was preaching the word at
Beroea, they came there, troubling the people and working them up. |
17:14 |
So
the brothers sent Paul straight away to the sea: but Silas and Timothy kept
there still. |
17:15 |
But
those who went with Paul took him as far as Athens, and then went away, with
orders from him to Silas and Timothy to come to him quickly. |
17:16 |
Now
while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was troubled, for he
saw all the town full of images of the gods. |
17:17 |
So
he had discussions in the Synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles,
and every day in the market-place with those who were there. |
17:18 |
And
some of those who were supporters of the theories of the Epicureans and the
Stoics, had a meeting with him. And some said, What is this talker of foolish
words saying? And others, He seems to be a preacher of strange gods: because
he was preaching of Jesus and his coming back from the dead. |
17:19 |
And
they took him to Mars' Hill, saying, Will you make clear to us what is this
new teaching of yours? |
17:20 |
For
you seem to us to say strange things, and we have a desire to get the sense
of them. |
17:21 |
(Now
all the Athenians and the men from other lands who come there were giving all
their time to talking or hearing of anything new.) |
17:22 |
And
Paul got to his feet on Mars' Hill and said, O men of Athens, I see that you
are overmuch given to fear of the gods. |
17:23 |
For
when I came by, I was looking at the things to which you give worship, and I
saw an altar with this writing on it, TO THE GOD OF WHOM THERE IS NO
KNOWLEDGE. Now, what you, without knowledge, give worship to, I make clear to
you. |
17:24 |
The
God who made the earth and everything in it, he, being Lord of heaven and
earth, is not housed in buildings made with hands; |
17:25 |
And
he is not dependent on the work of men's hands, as if he had need of
anything, for he himself gives to all life and breath and all things; |
17:26 |
And
he has made of one blood all the nations of men living on all the face of the
earth, ordering their times and the limits of their lands, |
17:27 |
So
that they might make search for God, in order, if possible, to get knowledge
of him and make discovery of him, though he is not far from every one of
us: |
17:28 |
For
in him we have life and motion and existence; as certain of your verse
writers have said, For we are his offspring. |
17:29 |
If
then we are the offspring of God, it is not right for us to have the idea
that God is like gold or silver or stone, formed by the art or design of
man. |
17:30 |
Those
times when men had no knowledge were overlooked by God; but now he gives
orders to all men in every place to undergo a change of heart: |
17:31 |
Because
a day has been fixed in which all the world will be judged in righteousness
by the man who has been marked out by him for this work; of which he has
given a sign to all men by giving him back from the dead. |
17:32 |
Now
on hearing about the coming back from death, some of them made sport of it,
but others said, Let us go more fully into this another time. |
17:33 |
And so
Paul went away from among them. |
17:34 |
But
some men gave him their support: among whom was Dionysius the Areopagite, and
a woman named Damaris, and others with them. |
18:1 |
After
these things, he went away from Athens, and came to Corinth. |
18:2 |
And
there he came across a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by birth,
who not long before had come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because
Claudius had given orders that all Jews were to go away from Rome: and he
came to them; |
18:3 |
And
because he was of the same trade, he was living with them, and they did their
work together; for by trade they were tent-makers. |
18:4 |
And
every Sabbath he had discussions in the Synagogue, turning Jews and Greeks to
the faith. |
18:5 |
And
when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was completely given up
to the word, preaching to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. |
18:6 |
And
when they put themselves against him, and said evil words, he said, shaking
his clothing, Your blood be on your heads, I am clean: from now I will go to
the Gentiles. |
18:7 |
And
moving from there, he went into the house of a man named Titus Justus, a
God-fearing man, whose house was very near the Synagogue. |
18:8 |
And
Crispus, the ruler of the Synagogue, with all his family, had faith in the
Lord; and a great number of the people of Corinth, hearing the word, had
faith and were given baptism. |
18:9 |
And
the Lord said to Paul in the night, in a vision, Have no fear and go on
preaching: |
18:10 |
For
I am with you, and no one will make an attack on you to do you damage: for I
have a number of people in this town. |
18:11 |
And
he was there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among
them. |
18:12 |
But
when Gallio was ruler of Achaia, all the Jews together made an attack on
Paul, and took him to the judge's seat, |
18:13 |
Saying,
This man is teaching the people to give worship to God in a way which is
against the law. |
18:14 |
But
when Paul was about to say something, Gallio said to the Jews, If this was
anything to do with wrongdoing or crime, there would be a reason for me to
give you a hearing: |
18:15 |
But
if it is a question of words or names or of your law, see to it yourselves; I
will not be a judge of such things. |
18:16 |
And
he sent them away from the judge's seat. |
18:17 |
And
they all made an attack on Sosthenes, the ruler of the Synagogue, and gave
him blows before the judge's seat; but Gallio gave no attention to these
things. |
18:18 |
And
Paul, after waiting some days, went away from the brothers and went by ship
to Syria, Priscilla and Aquila being with him; and he had had his hair cut
off in Cenchrea, for he had taken an oath. |
18:19 |
And
they came down to Ephesus and he left them there: and he himself went into
the Synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. |
18:20 |
And
being requested by them to be there for a longer time, he said, No; |
18:21 |
And
went from them, saying, I will come back to you if God lets me; and he took
ship from Ephesus. |
18:22 |
And
when he had come to land at Caesarea, he went to see the church, and then
went down to Antioch. |
18:23 |
And
having been there for some time, he went through the country of Galatia and
Phrygia in order, making the disciples strong in the faith. |
18:24 |
Now
a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, and a man of learning,
came to Ephesus; and he had great knowledge of the holy Writings. |
18:25 |
This
man had been trained in the way of the Lord; and burning in spirit, he gave
himself up to teaching the facts about Jesus, though he had knowledge only of
John's baptism: |
18:26 |
And
he was preaching in the Synagogue without fear. But Priscilla and Aquila,
hearing his words, took him in, and gave him fuller teaching about the way of
God. |
18:27 |
And
when he had a desire to go over into Achaia, the brothers gave him help, and
sent letters to the disciples requesting them to take him in among them: and
when he had come, he gave much help to those who had faith through grace: |
18:28 |
For
he overcame the Jews in public discussion, making clear from the holy
Writings that the Christ was Jesus. |
19:1 |
And
it came about that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having gone through
the higher country, came to Ephesus, where there were certain disciples: |
19:2 |
And
he said to them, Did you get the Holy Spirit when you had faith? And they
said to him, No, we have had no knowledge of the Holy Spirit. |
19:3 |
And
he said, What sort of baptism did you have? And they said, The baptism of
John. |
19:4 |
And
Paul said, John gave a baptism which goes with a change of heart, saying to
the people that they were to have faith in him who was coming after him, that
is, in Jesus. |
19:5 |
And
hearing this, they had baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus. |
19:6 |
And
when Paul had put his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they
had the power of talking in tongues, and acting like prophets. |
19:7 |
And
there were about twelve of these men. |
19:8 |
And
he went into the Synagogue, and for three months he was preaching there
without fear, reasoning and teaching about the kingdom of God. |
19:9 |
But
because some of the people were hard-hearted and would not give hearing,
saying evil words about the Way before the people, he went away from them,
and kept the disciples separate, reasoning every day in the school of
Tyrannus. |
19:10 |
And
this went on for two years, so that all those who were living in Asia had
knowledge of the word of the Lord, Greeks as well as Jews. |
19:11 |
And God did
special works of power by the hands of Paul: |
19:12 |
So
that bits of linen and clothing from his body were taken to people who were
ill, and their diseases went away from them and the evil spirits went
out. |
19:13 |
But
some of the Jews who went from place to place driving out evil spirits, took
it on themselves to make use of the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had
evil spirits, saying, I give you orders, by Jesus, whom Paul is preaching. |
19:14 |
And
there were seven sons of a man named Sceva, a Jew and a chief priest, who did
this. |
19:15 |
And
the evil spirit, answering, said to them, I have knowledge of Jesus, and of
Paul, but who are you? |
19:16 |
And
the man in whom the evil spirit was, jumping on them, was stronger than the
two of them, and overcame them, so that they went running from that house,
wounded and without their clothing. |
19:17 |
And
this came to the ears of all those, Jews and Greeks, who were living at
Ephesus; and fear came on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was made
great. |
19:18 |
And
a number of those who had faith came and made a public statement of their
sins and all their acts. |
19:19 |
And
a great number of those who were experts in strange arts took their books and
put them on the fire in front of everyone: and when the books were valued
they came to fifty thousand bits of silver. |
19:20 |
So
the word of the Lord was increased very greatly and was full of power. |
19:21 |
Now
after these things were ended, Paul came to a decision that when he had gone
through Macedonia and Achaia he would go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have
been there, I have a desire to see Rome. |
19:22 |
And
having sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, into Macedonia, he
himself went on living in Asia for a time. |
19:23 |
And
about that time a great outcry took place about the Way. |
19:24 |
For
there was a certain man named Demetrius, a silver-worker, who made silver
boxes for the images of Diana, and gave no small profit to the workmen; |
19:25 |
Whom
he got together, with other workmen of the same trade, and said to them, Men,
it is clear that from this business we get our wealth. |
19:26 |
And
you see, for it has come to your ears, that not only at Ephesus, but almost
all through Asia, this Paul has been teaching numbers of people and turning
them away, saying that those are not gods who are made by men's hands: |
19:27 |
And
there is danger, not only that our trade may be damaged in the opinion of
men, but that the holy place of the great goddess Diana may be no longer
honoured, and that she to whom all Asia and the world give worship, will be
put down from her high position. |
19:28 |
And
hearing this, they were very angry, crying out and saying, Great is Diana of
Ephesus. |
19:29 |
And
the town was full of noise and trouble, and they all came running into the
theatre, having taken by force Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia who
were journeying in company with Paul. |
19:30 |
And
when Paul was about to go in to the people, the disciples did not let
him. |
19:31 |
And
some of the rulers of Asia, being his friends, sent to him, requesting him
seriously not to put himself in danger by going into the theatre. |
19:32 |
And
some said one thing, and some another: for there was no order in the meeting;
and most of them had no idea why they had come together. |
19:33 |
Then
they took Alexander out from among the people, the Jews putting him forward.
And Alexander, making a sign with his hand, was about to make a statement to
the people in answer: |
19:34 |
But
when they saw that he was a Jew, all of them with one voice went on crying
out for about two hours, Great is Diana of Ephesus. |
19:35 |
And
when the chief secretary had got the people quiet, he said, Men of Ephesus,
is any man without knowledge that the town of Ephesus is the keeper of the
holy place of the great Diana, who was sent down from Jupiter? |
19:36 |
So
then, because these things may not be doubted, it would be better for you to
be quiet, and do nothing unwise. |
19:37 |
For
you have taken these men, who are not doing damage to the holy place or
talking against our goddess. |
19:38 |
If,
then, Demetrius and the workmen who are with him have a protest to make
against any man, the law is open to them, and there are judges; let them put
up a cause at law against one another. |
19:39 |
But
if any other business is in question, let it be taken up in the regular
meeting. |
19:40 |
For, truly, we are in danger of being made responsible
for this day's trouble, there being no cause for it: and we are not able to
give any reason for this coming together. |
19:41 |
And when he had
said this, he sent the meeting away. |
20:1 |
And
after the noise had come to an end, Paul, having sent for the disciples and
given them comfort, went away from them to Macedonia. |
20:2 |
And
when he had gone through those parts and given them much teaching, he came
into Greece. |
20:3 |
And
when he had been there three months, because the Jews had made a secret
design against him when he was about to take ship for Syria, he made a
decision to go back through Macedonia. |
20:4 |
And
Sopater of Beroea, the son of Pyrrhus, and Aristarchus and Secundus of
Thessalonica, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of
Asia, went with him as far as Asia. |
20:5 |
But
these had gone before, and were waiting for us at Troas. |
20:6 |
And
we went away from Philippi by ship after the days of unleavened bread, and
came to them at Troas in five days; and we were there for seven days. |
20:7 |
And
on the first day of the week, when we had come together for the holy meal,
Paul gave them a talk, for it was his purpose to go away on the day after;
and he went on talking till after the middle of the night. |
20:8 |
And
there were a number of lights in the room where we had come together. |
20:9 |
And
a certain young man named Eutychus, who was seated in the window, went into a
deep sleep; and while Paul went on talking, being overcome by sleep, he had a
fall from the third floor, and was taken up dead. |
20:10 |
And
Paul went down and, falling on him, took him in his arms and said, Do not be
troubled, for his life is in him. |
20:11 |
And
when he had gone up, and had taken the broken bread, he went on talking to
them for a long time, even till dawn, and then he went away. |
20:12 |
And
they took the boy in, living, and were greatly comforted. |
20:13 |
But
we, going before him by ship, went to Assos with the purpose of taking Paul
in there: for so he had given orders, because he himself was coming by
land. |
20:14 |
And
when he came up with us at Assos, we took him in the ship and went on to
Mitylene. |
20:15 |
And
going from there by sea, we came on the day after opposite Chios, and
touching at Samos on the day after that, we came on the third day to
Miletus. |
20:16 |
For
Paul's purpose was to go past Ephesus, so that he might not be kept in Asia;
for he was going quickly, in order, if possible, to be at Jerusalem on the
day of Pentecost. |
20:17 |
And
from Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the rulers of the church. |
20:18 |
And
when they had come, he said to them, You yourselves have seen what my life
has been like all the time from the day when I first came into Asia, |
20:19 |
Doing
the Lord's work without pride, through all the sorrow and troubles which came
on me because of the evil designs of the Jews: |
20:20 |
And
how I kept back nothing which might be of profit to you, teaching you
publicly and privately, |
20:21 |
Preaching
to Jews and to Greeks the need for a turning of the heart to God, and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. |
20:22 |
And
now, as you see, I am going to Jerusalem, a prisoner in spirit, having no
knowledge of what will come to me there: |
20:23 |
Only
that the Holy Spirit makes clear to me in every town that prison and pains
are waiting for me. |
20:24 |
But
I put no value on my life, if only at the end of it I may see the work
complete which was given to me by the Lord Jesus, to be a witness of the good
news of the grace of God. |
20:25 |
And
now I am conscious that you, among whom I have gone about preaching the
kingdom, will not see my face again. |
20:26 |
And
so I say to you this day that I am clean from the blood of all men. |
20:27 |
For
I have not kept back from you anything of the purpose of God. |
20:28 |
Give
attention to yourselves, and to all the flock which the Holy Spirit has given
into your care, to give food to the church of God, for which he gave his
blood. |
20:29 |
I
am conscious that after I am gone, evil wolves will come in among you, doing
damage to the flock; |
20:30 |
And
from among yourselves will come men who will give wrong teaching, turning
away the disciples after them. |
20:31 |
So
keep watch, having in mind that for three years without resting I was
teaching every one of you, day and night, with weeping. |
20:32 |
And
now, I give you into the care of God and the word of his grace, which is able
to make you strong and to give you your heritage among all the saints. |
20:33 |
I
have had no desire for any man's silver or gold or clothing. |
20:34 |
You
yourselves have seen that with these hands I got what was necessary for me
and those who were with me. |
20:35 |
In
all things I was an example to you of how, in your lives, you are to give
help to the feeble, and keep in memory the words of the Lord Jesus, how he
himself said, There is a greater blessing in giving than in getting. |
20:36 |
And
having said these words, he went down on his knees in prayer with them
all. |
20:37 |
And
they were all weeping, falling on Paul's neck and kissing him, |
20:38 |
Being
sad most of all because he had said that they would not see his face again.
And so they went with him to the ship. |
21:1 |
And
after parting from them, we put out to sea and came straight to Cos, and the
day after to Rhodes, and from there to Patara: |
21:2 |
And as
there was a ship going to Phoenicia, we went in it. |
21:3 |
And
when we had come in view of Cyprus, going past it on our left, we went on to
Syria, and came to land at Tyre: for there the goods which were in the ship
had to be taken out. |
21:4 |
And
meeting the disciples we were there for seven days: and they gave Paul orders
through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. |
21:5 |
And
when these days came to an end, we went on our journey; and they all, with
their wives and children, came with us on our way till we were out of the
town: and after going on our knees in prayer by the sea, |
21:6 |
We
said our last words to one another, and got into the ship, and they went back
to their houses. |
21:7 |
And
journeying by ship from Tyre we came to Ptolemais; and there we had talk with
the brothers and were with them for one day. |
21:8 |
And
on the day after, we went away and came to Caesarea, where we were guests in
the house of Philip, the preacher, who was one of the seven. |
21:9 |
And he had
four daughters, virgins, who were prophets. |
21:10 |
And
while we were waiting there for some days, a certain prophet, named Agabus,
came down from Judaea. |
21:11 |
And
he came to us, and took the band of Paul's clothing, and putting it round his
feet and hands, said, The Holy Spirit says these words, So will the Jews do
to the man who is the owner of this band, and they will give him up into the
hands of the Gentiles. |
21:12 |
And
hearing these things, we and those who were living in that place made request
to him not to go to Jerusalem. |
21:13 |
Then
Paul said, What are you doing, weeping and wounding my heart? for I am ready,
not only to be a prisoner, but to be put to death at Jerusalem for the name
of the Lord Jesus. |
21:14 |
And
as he might not be moved we did no more, saying, Let the purpose of God be
done. |
21:15 |
And
after these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. |
21:16 |
And
some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, taking a certain Mnason of
Cyprus, one of the early disciples, in whose house we were to be living. |
21:17 |
And
when we came to Jerusalem, the brothers were pleased to see us. |
21:18 |
And
on the day after, Paul went with us to James, and all the rulers of the
church were present. |
21:19 |
And
when he had said how glad he was to see them, he gave them a detailed account
of the things which God had done through his work among the Gentiles. |
21:20 |
And
hearing it, they gave praise to God; and they said to him, You see, brother,
what thousands there are among the Jews, who have the faith; and they all
have a great respect for the law: |
21:21 |
And
they have had news of you, how you have been teaching all the Jews among the
Gentiles to give up the law of Moses, and not to give circumcision to their
children, and not to keep the old rules. |
21:22 |
What
then is the position? They will certainly get news that you have come. |
21:23 |
Do
this, then, which we say to you: We have four men who have taken an
oath; |
21:24 |
Go
with these, and make yourself clean with them, and make the necessary
payments for them, so that they may be free from their oath: and everyone
will see that the statements made about you are not true, but that you put
yourself under rule, and keep the law. |
21:25 |
But
as to the Gentiles who have the faith, we sent a letter, giving our decision
that they were to keep themselves from offerings made to False gods, and from
blood, and from the flesh of animals put to death in ways against the law,
and from the evil desires of the body. |
21:26 |
Then
Paul took the men, and on the day after, making himself clean with them, he
went into the Temple, giving out the statement that the days necessary for
making them clean were complete, till the offering was made for every one of
them. |
21:27 |
And
when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the
Temple, got the people together and put their hands on him, |
21:28 |
Crying
out, Men of Israel, come to our help: this is the man who is teaching all men
everywhere against the people and the law and this place: and in addition, he
has taken Greeks into the Temple, and made this holy place unclean. |
21:29 |
For
they had seen him before in the town with Trophimus of Ephesus, and had the
idea that Paul had taken him with him into the Temple. |
21:30 |
And
all the town was moved, and the people came running together and put their
hands on Paul, pulling him out of the Temple: and then the doors were
shut. |
21:31 |
And
while they were attempting to put him to death, news came to the chief
captain of the band that all Jerusalem was out of control. |
21:32 |
And
straight away he took some armed men and went quickly down to them: and the
Jews, seeing them, gave no more blows to Paul. |
21:33 |
Then
the chief captain came near and took him, and gave orders for him to be put
in chains, questioning them as to who he was and what he had done. |
21:34 |
And
some said one thing and some another, among the people: and as he was not
able to get a knowledge of the facts because of the noise, he gave orders for
Paul to be taken into the army building. |
21:35 |
And
when he came on to the steps, he was lifted up by the armed men, because of
the force of the people; |
21:36 |
For
a great mass of people came after them, crying out, Away with him! |
21:37 |
And
when Paul was about to be taken into the building, he said to the chief
captain, May I say something to you? And he said, Have you a knowledge of
Greek? |
21:38 |
Are
you by chance the Egyptian who, before this, got the people worked up against
the government and took four thousand men of the Assassins out into the waste
land? |
21:39 |
But
Paul said, I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, which is not an unimportant town:
I make a request to you to let me say a word to the people. |
21:40 |
And
when he let him do so, Paul, from the steps, made a sign with his hand to the
people, and when they were all quiet, he said to them in the Hebrew
language, |
22:1 |
My
brothers and fathers, give ear to the story of my life which I now put before
you. |
22:2 |
And,
hearing him talking in the Hebrew language, they became the more quiet, and
he said, |
22:3 |
I
am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia by birth, but I had my education in this town
at the feet of Gamaliel, being trained in the keeping of every detail of the
law of our fathers; given up to the cause of God with all my heart, as you
are today. |
22:4 |
And
I made attacks on this Way, even to death, taking men and women and putting
them in prison. |
22:5 |
Of
which the high priest will be a witness, and all the rulers, from whom I had
letters to the brothers; and I went into Damascus, to take those who were
there as prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment. |
22:6 |
And
it came about that while I was on my journey, coming near to Damascus, about
the middle of the day, suddenly I saw a great light from heaven shining round
me. |
22:7 |
And
when I went down on the earth, a voice came to my ears saying to me, Saul,
Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly? |
22:8 |
And
I, answering, said, Who are you; Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of
Nazareth, whom you are attacking. |
22:9 |
And
those who were with me saw the light, but the voice of him who was talking to
me came not to their ears. |
22:10 |
And
I said, What have I to do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Get up, and go into
Damascus; and it will be made clear to you what you have to do. |
22:11 |
And
because I was unable to see because of the glory of that light, those who
were with me took me by the hand, and so I came to Damascus. |
22:12 |
And
one Ananias, a God-fearing man, who kept the law, and of whom all the Jews in
that place had a high opinion, |
22:13 |
Came
to my side and said, Brother Saul, let your eyes be open. And in that very
hour I was able to see him. |
22:14 |
And
he said, You have been marked out by the God of our fathers to have knowledge
of his purpose, and to see the Upright One and to give ear to the words of
his mouth. |
22:15 |
For
you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and of what
has come to your ears. |
22:16 |
And
now, why are you waiting? get up, and have baptism, for the washing away of
your sins, giving worship to his name. |
22:17 |
And
it came about that when I had come back to Jerusalem, while I was at prayer
in the Temple, my senses became more than naturally clear, |
22:18 |
And
I saw him saying to me, Go out of Jerusalem straight away because they will
not give hearing to your witness about me. |
22:19 |
And
I said, Lord, they themselves have knowledge that I went through the
Synagogues putting in prison and whipping all those who had faith in
you: |
22:20 |
And
when Stephen your witness was put to death, I was there, giving approval, and
looking after the clothing of those who put him to death. |
22:21 |
And
he said to me, Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles. |
22:22 |
And
they gave him a hearing as far as this word; then with loud voices they said,
Away with this man from the earth; it is not right for him to be living. |
22:23 |
And
while they were crying out, and pulling off their clothing, and sending dust
into the air, |
22:24 |
The
chief captain gave orders for him to be taken into the army building, saying
that he would put him to the test by whipping, so that he might have
knowledge of the reason why they were crying out so violently against him. |
22:25 |
And
when they had put leather bands round him, Paul said to the captain who was
present, Is it the law for you to give blows to a man who is a Roman and has
not been judged? |
22:26 |
And
hearing this, the man went to the chief captain and gave him an account of
it, saying, What are you about to do? for this man is a Roman. |
22:27 |
And
the chief captain came to him and said, Give me an answer, are you a Roman?
And he said, Yes. |
22:28 |
And
the chief captain said, I got Roman rights for myself at a great price. And
Paul said, But I had them by birth. |
22:29 |
Then
those who were about to put him to the test went away: and the chief captain
was in fear, seeing that he was a Roman, and that he had put chains on
him. |
22:30 |
But
on the day after, desiring to have certain knowledge of what the Jews had to
say against him, he made him free, and gave orders for the chief priests and
all the Sanhedrin to come together, and he took Paul and put him before them. |
23:1 |
And
Paul, looking fixedly at the Sanhedrin, said, My brothers, my life has been
upright before God till this day. |
23:2 |
And
the high priest, Ananias, gave orders to those who were near him to give him
a blow on the mouth. |
23:3 |
Then
Paul said to him, God will give blows to you, you whitewashed wall: are you
here to be my judge by law, and by your orders am I given blows against the
law? |
23:4 |
And
those who were near said, Do you say such words against God's high
priest? |
23:5 |
And
Paul said, Brother, I had no idea that he was the high priest: for it has
been said, You may not say evil about the ruler of your people. |
23:6 |
But
when Paul saw that half of them were Sadducees and the rest Pharisees, he
said in the Sanhedrin, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees: I
am here to be judged on the question of the hope of the coming back from the
dead. |
23:7 |
And
when he had said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the
Sadducees, and a division in the meeting. |
23:8 |
For
the Sadducees say that there is no coming back from the dead, and no angels
or spirits: but the Pharisees have belief in all these. |
23:9 |
And
there was a great outcry: and some of the scribes on the side of the
Pharisees got up and took part in the discussion, saying, We see no evil in
this man: what if he has had a revelation from an angel or a spirit? |
23:10 |
And
when the argument became very violent, the chief captain, fearing that Paul
would be pulled in two by them, gave orders to the armed men to take him by
force from among them, and take him into the army building. |
23:11 |
And
the night after, the Lord came to his side and said, Be of good heart, for as
you have been witnessing for me in Jerusalem, so will you be my witness in
Rome. |
23:12 |
And
when it was day, the Jews came together and put themselves under an oath that
they would take no food or drink till they had put Paul to death. |
23:13 |
And
more than forty of them took this oath. |
23:14 |
And
they came to the chief priests and the rulers and said, We have taken a great
oath to take no food till we have put Paul to death |
23:15 |
So
now, will you and the Sanhedrin make a request to the military authorities to
have him sent down to you, as if you were desiring to go into the business in
greater detail; and we, before ever he gets to you, will be waiting to put
him to death. |
23:16 |
But
Paul's sister's son had word of their design, and he came into the army
building and gave news of it to Paul. |
23:17 |
And
Paul sent for a captain and said, Take this young man to your chief, for he
has news for him. |
23:18 |
So
he took him to the chief captain and said, Paul, the prisoner, made a request
to me to take this young man to you, for he has something to say to you. |
23:19 |
And
the chief took him by the hand and, going on one side, said to him privately,
What is it you have to say to me? |
23:20 |
And
he said, The Jews are in agreement together to make a request to you for Paul
to be taken, on the day after this, into the Sanhedrin, to be questioned in
greater detail. |
23:21 |
But
do not give way to them, for more than forty of them are waiting for him,
having taken an oath not to take food or drink till they have put him to
death: and now they are ready, waiting for your order. |
23:22 |
So
the chief captain let the young man go, saying to him, Do not say to anyone
that you have given me word of these things. |
23:23 |
And
he sent for two captains and said, Make ready two hundred men, with seventy
horsemen and two hundred spearmen, to go to Caesarea, at the third hour of
the night: |
23:24 |
And
get beasts so that they may put Paul on them, and take him safely to Felix,
the ruler. |
23:25 |
And he sent
a letter in these words: |
23:26 |
Claudius
Lysias, to the most noble ruler, Felix, peace be with you. |
23:27 |
This
man was taken by the Jews, and was about to be put to death by them, when I
came on them with the army and took him out of danger, having knowledge that
he was a Roman. |
23:28 |
And,
desiring to get at the reason for their attack on him, I took him down to
their Sanhedrin: |
23:29 |
Then
it became clear to me that it was a question of their law, and that nothing
was said against him which might be a reason for prison or death. |
23:30 |
And
when news was given to me that a secret design was being made against the
man, I sent him straight away to you, giving orders to those who are against
him to make their statements before you. |
23:31 |
So
the armed men, as they were ordered, took Paul and came by night to
Antipatris. |
23:32 |
But
on the day after, they sent the horsemen on with him, and went back to their
place: |
23:33 |
And
they, when they came to Caesarea, gave the letter to the ruler, and took Paul
before him. |
23:34 |
And
after reading it, he said, What part of the country do you come from? And,
hearing that he was from Cilicia, |
23:35 |
I
will give hearing to your cause, he said, when those who are against you have
come. And he gave orders for him to be kept in Herod's Praetorium. |
24:1 |
And
after five days, the high priest, Ananias, came with certain of the rulers,
and an expert talker, one Tertullus; and they made a statement to Felix
against Paul. |
24:2 |
And
when he had been sent for, Tertullus, starting his statement, said, Because
by you we are living in peace, and through your wisdom wrongs are put right
for this nation, |
24:3 |
In
all things and in all places we are conscious of our great debt to you, most
noble Felix. |
24:4 |
But,
so that I may not make you tired, I make a request to you of your mercy, to
give hearing to a short statement. |
24:5 |
For
this man, in our opinion, is a cause of trouble, a maker of attacks on the
government among Jews through all the empire, and a chief mover in the
society of the Nazarenes: |
24:6 |
Who,
in addition, was attempting to make the Temple unclean: whom we took, |
24:7 |
[] |
24:8 |
And
from whom you will be able, by questioning him yourself, to get knowledge of
all the things which we say against him. |
24:9 |
And
the Jews were in agreement with his statement, saying that these things were
so. |
24:10 |
Then
when the ruler had given him a sign to make his answer, Paul said, Because I
have knowledge that you have been a judge over this nation for a number of
years, I am glad to make my answer: |
24:11 |
Seeing
that you are able to make certain of the fact that it is not more than twelve
days from the time when I came up to Jerusalem for worship; |
24:12 |
And
they have not seen me in argument with any man in the Temple, or working up
the feelings of the people, in the Synagogues or in the town: |
24:13 |
And
they are not able to give facts in support of the things which they say
against me now. |
24:14 |
But
this I will say openly to you, that I do give worship to the God of our
fathers after that Way, which to them is not the True religion: but I have
belief in all the things which are in the law and in the books of the
prophets: |
24:15 |
Hoping
in God for that which they themselves are looking for, that there will be a
coming back from the dead for upright men and wrongdoers. |
24:16 |
And
in this, I do my best at all times to have no reason for shame before God or
men. |
24:17 |
Now
after a number of years I came to give help and offerings to my nation: |
24:18 |
And
having been made clean, I was in the Temple, but not with a great number of
people, and not with noise: but there were certain Jews from Asia, |
24:19 |
And
it would have been better if they had come here to make a statement, if they
have anything against me. |
24:20 |
Or
let these men here present say what wrongdoing was seen in me when I was
before the Sanhedrin, |
24:21 |
But
only this one thing which I said among them in a loud voice, I am this day
being judged on the question of the coming back from the dead. |
24:22 |
But
Felix, who had a more detailed knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying,
When Lysias, the chief captain, comes down, I will give attention to your
business. |
24:23 |
And
he gave orders to the captain to keep Paul under his control, and to let him
have everything he had need of; and not to keep his friends from coming to
see him. |
24:24 |
But
after some days, Felix came with Drusilla his wife, who was of the Jews by
birth, and sent for Paul, and gave hearing to him about faith in Christ
Jesus. |
24:25 |
And
while he was talking about righteousness and self-control and the judging
which was to come, Felix had great fear and said, Go away for the present,
and when the right time comes I will send for you. |
24:26 |
For
he was hoping that Paul would give him money: so he sent for him more
frequently and had talk with him. |
24:27 |
But
after two years Porcius Festus took the place of Felix, who, desiring to have
the approval of the Jews, kept Paul in chains. |
25:1 |
So
Festus, having come into that part of the country which was under his rule,
after three days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. |
25:2 |
And
the chief priests and the chief men of the Jews made statements against
Paul, |
25:3 |
Requesting
Festus to give effect to their design against him, and send him to Jerusalem,
when they would be waiting to put him to death on the way. |
25:4 |
But
Festus, in answer, said that Paul was being kept in prison at Caesarea, and
that in a short time he himself was going there. |
25:5 |
So,
he said, let those who have authority among you go with me, and if there is
any wrong in the man, let them make a statement against him. |
25:6 |
And
when he had been with them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to
Caesarea; and on the day after, he took his place on the judge's seat, and
sent for Paul. |
25:7 |
And
when he came, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem came round him, and
made all sorts of serious statements against him, which were not supported by
the facts. |
25:8 |
Then
Paul, in his answer to them, said, I have done no wrong against the law of
the Jews, or against the Temple, or against Caesar. |
25:9 |
But
Festus, desiring to get the approval of the Jews, said to Paul, Will you go
up to Jerusalem, and be judged before me there in connection with these
things? |
25:10 |
And
Paul said, I am before the seat of Caesar's authority where it is right for
me to be judged: I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you are well able to
see. |
25:11 |
If,
then, I am a wrongdoer and there is a cause of death in me, I am ready for
death: if it is not as they say against me, no man may give me up to them.
Let my cause come before Caesar. |
25:12 |
Then
Festus, having had a discussion with the Jews, made answer, You have said,
Let my cause come before Caesar; to Caesar you will go. |
25:13 |
Now
when some days had gone by, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea and
went to see Festus. |
25:14 |
And
as they were there for some days, Festus gave them Paul's story, saying,
There is a certain man here who was put in prison by Felix: |
25:15 |
Against
whom the chief priests and the rulers of the Jews made a statement when I was
at Jerusalem, requesting me to give a decision against him. |
25:16 |
To
whom I gave answer that it is not the Roman way to give a man up, till he has
been face to face with those who are attacking him, and has had a chance to
give an answer to the statements made against him. |
25:17 |
So,
when they had come together here, straight away, on the day after, I took my
place on the judge's seat and sent for the man. |
25:18 |
But
when they got up they said nothing about such crimes as I had in mind: |
25:19 |
But
had certain questions against him in connection with their religion, and
about one Jesus, now dead, who, Paul said, was living. |
25:20 |
And
as I had not enough knowledge for the discussion of these things, I made the
suggestion to him to go to Jerusalem and be judged there. |
25:21 |
But
when Paul made a request that he might be judged by Caesar, I gave orders for
him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. |
25:22 |
And
Agrippa said to Festus, I have a desire to give the man a hearing myself.
Tomorrow, he said, you may give him a hearing. |
25:23 |
So
on the day after, when Agrippa and Bernice in great glory had come into the
public place of hearing, with the chief of the army and the chief men of the
town, at the order of Festus, Paul was sent for. |
25:24 |
And
Festus said, King Agrippa, and all those who are present here with us, you
see this man, about whom all the Jews have made protests to me, at Jerusalem
and in this place, saying that it is not right for him to be living any
longer. |
25:25 |
But,
in my opinion, there is no cause of death in him, and as he himself has made
a request to be judged by Caesar, I have said that I would send him. |
25:26 |
But
I have no certain account of him to send to Caesar. So I have sent for him to
come before you, and specially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the
business has been gone into, I may have something to put in writing. |
25:27 |
For
it seems to me against reason to send a prisoner without making clear what
there is against him. |
26:1 |
And
Agrippa said to Paul, You may put your cause before us. Then Paul, stretching
out his hand, made his answer, saying: |
26:2 |
In
my opinion I am happy, King Agrippa, to be able to give my answer before you
today to all these things which the Jews say against me: |
26:3 |
The
more so, because you are expert in all questions to do with the Jews and
their ways: so I make my request to you to give me a hearing to the end. |
26:4 |
All
the Jews have knowledge of my way of life from my early years, as it was from
the start among my nation, and at Jerusalem; |
26:5 |
And
they are able to say, if they would give witness, that I was living as a
Pharisee, in that division of our religion which is most regular in the
keeping of the law. |
26:6 |
And
now I am here to be judged because of the hope given by God's word to our
fathers; |
26:7 |
For
the effecting of which our twelve tribes have been working and waiting night
and day with all their hearts. And in connection with this hope I am attacked
by the Jews, O king! |
26:8 |
Why,
in your opinion, is it outside belief for God to make the dead come to life
again? |
26:9 |
For
I, truly, was of the opinion that it was right for me to do a number of
things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. |
26:10 |
And
this I did in Jerusalem: and numbers of the saints I put in prison, having
had authority given to me from the chief priests, and when they were put to
death, I gave my decision against them. |
26:11 |
And
I gave them punishment frequently, in all the Synagogues, forcing them to say
things against God; and burning with passion against them, I went after them
even into far-away towns. |
26:12 |
Then,
when I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and orders of the chief
priests, |
26:13 |
In
the middle of the day, on the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than
the sun, shining round me and those who were journeying with me. |
26:14 |
And
when we had all gone down on the earth, a voice came to me, saying in the
Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly? It is hard
for you to go against the impulse which is driving you. |
26:15 |
And
I said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are
attacking. |
26:16 |
But
get up on your feet: for I have come to you for this purpose, to make you a
servant and a witness of the things in which you have seen me, and of those
in which you will see me; |
26:17 |
And
I will keep you safe from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send
you, |
26:18 |
To
make their eyes open, turning them from the dark to the light, and from the
power of Satan to God, so that they may have forgiveness of sins and a
heritage among those who are made holy by faith in me. |
26:19 |
So,
then, King Agrippa, I did not go against the vision from heaven; |
26:20 |
But
I went about, first to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, and through all the
country of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, preaching a change of heart, so
that they, being turned to God, might give, in their works, the fruits of a
changed heart. |
26:21 |
For
this reason, the Jews took me in the Temple, and made an attempt to put me to
death. |
26:22 |
And
so, by God's help, I am here today, witnessing to small and great, saying
nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come about; |
26:23 |
That
the Christ would go through pain, and being the first to come back from the
dead, would give light to the people and to the Gentiles. |
26:24 |
And
when he made his answer in these words, Festus said in a loud voice, Paul,
you are off your head; your great learning has made you unbalanced. |
26:25 |
Then
Paul said, I am not off my head, most noble Festus, but my words are True and
wise. |
26:26 |
For
the king has knowledge of these things, to whom I am talking freely; being
certain that all this is common knowledge to him; for it has not been done in
secret. |
26:27 |
King
Agrippa, have you faith in the prophets? I am certain that you have. |
26:28 |
And
Agrippa said to Paul, A little more and you will be making me a
Christian. |
26:29 |
And
Paul said, It is my prayer to God that, in little or great measure, not only
you, but all those hearing me today might be even as I am, but for these
chains. |
26:30 |
And
the king and the ruler and Bernice and those who were seated with them got
up; |
26:31 |
And
when they had gone away they said to one another, This man has done nothing
which might give cause for death or prison. |
26:32 |
And
Agrippa said to Festus, This man might have been made free, if he had not put
his cause before Caesar. |
27:1 |
And
when the decision had been made that we were to go by sea to Italy, they gave
Paul and certain other prisoners into the care of a captain named Julius, of
the Augustan band. |
27:2 |
And
we went to sea in a ship of Adramyttium which was sailing to the sea towns of
Asia, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. |
27:3 |
And
on the day after, we came to Sidon; and Julius was kind to Paul, and let him
go to see his friends and take a rest. |
27:4 |
And
sailing again from there, we went on under cover of Cyprus, because the wind
was against us. |
27:5 |
And
having gone across the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia we came to Myra, in
Lycia. |
27:6 |
And
there the captain came across a ship of Alexandria, sailing for Italy, and
put us in it. |
27:7 |
And
when we had gone on slowly for a long time, and had had hard work getting
across to Cnidus, for the wind was against us, we went under cover of Crete,
in the direction of Salmone; |
27:8 |
And
sailing down the side of it, as well as we were able, we came to a certain
place named Fair Havens, near which was the town of Lasea. |
27:9 |
And
as a long time had gone by, and the journey was now full of danger, because
it was late in the year, Paul put the position before them, |
27:10 |
Saying,
Friends, I see that this journey will be one of great damage and loss, not
only to the goods and the ship, but to ourselves. |
27:11 |
But
the captain gave more attention to the master and the owner of the ship than
to what Paul said. |
27:12 |
And
as the harbour was not a good one in which to be for the winter, the greater
number of them were for going out to sea, in order, if possible, to put in
for the winter at Phoenix, a harbour of Crete, looking to the north-east and
south-east. |
27:13 |
And
when the south wind came softly, being of the opinion that their purpose
might be effected, they let the ship go and went sailing down the side of
Crete, very near to the land. |
27:14 |
But
after a little time, a very violent wind, named Euraquilo, came down from it
with great force. |
27:15 |
And
when the ship got into the grip of it, and was not able to make headway into
the wind, we gave way, and went before it. |
27:16 |
And,
sailing near the side of a small island named Cauda, we were able, though it
was hard work, to make the ship's boat safe: |
27:17 |
And
having got it up, they put cords under and round the ship; but fearing that
they might be pushed on to the Syrtis, they let down the sails and so went
running before the wind. |
27:18 |
And,
still fighting the storm with all our strength, the day after they made a
start at getting the goods out of the ship; |
27:19 |
And
on the third day, they let all the sailing apparatus go over the side. |
27:20 |
And
as we had not seen the sun or stars for a long time, and a great storm was on
us, all hope of salvation was gone. |
27:21 |
And
when they had been without food for a long time, Paul got up among them and
said, Friends, it would have been better if you had given attention to me and
not gone sailing out from Crete, to undergo this damage and loss. |
27:22 |
But
now, I say to you, be of good heart, for there will be no loss of life, but
only of the ship. |
27:23 |
For
this night there came to my side an angel of the God who is my Master and
whose servant I am, |
27:24 |
Saying,
Have no fear, Paul, for you will come before Caesar, and God has given to you
all those who are sailing with you. |
27:25 |
And
so, O men, be of good heart, for I have faith in God that it will be as he
said to me. |
27:26 |
But
we will be sent on to a certain island. |
27:27 |
But
when the fourteenth day came, while we were going here and there in the
Adriatic sea, about the middle of the night the sailors had an idea that they
were getting near land; |
27:28 |
And
they let down the lead, and saw that the sea was a hundred and twenty feet
deep; and after a little time they did it again and it was ninety feet. |
27:29 |
Then,
fearing that by chance we might come on to the rocks, they let down four
hooks from the back of the ship, and made prayers for the coming of day. |
27:30 |
Then
the sailors made attempts secretly to get away from the ship, letting down a
boat as if they were about to put down hooks from the front of the ship; |
27:31 |
But
Paul said to the captain and his men, If you do not keep these men in the
ship, you will not be safe. |
27:32 |
Then
the armed men, cutting the cords of the boat, let her go. |
27:33 |
And
when dawn was near, Paul gave them all orders to take food, saying, This is
the fourteenth day you have been waiting and taking no food. |
27:34 |
So
I make request to you to take food; for this is for your salvation: not a
hair from the head of any of you will come to destruction. |
27:35 |
And
when he had said this and had taken bread, he gave praise to God before them
all, and took a meal of the broken bread. |
27:36 |
Then
they all took heart and did the same. |
27:37 |
And
we were, in the ship, two hundred and seventy-six persons. |
27:38 |
And
when they had had enough food, they made the weight of the ship less, turning
the grain out into the sea. |
27:39 |
And
when it was day, they had no knowledge of the land, but they saw an inlet of
the sea with a floor of sand, and they had the idea of driving the ship up on
to it if possible. |
27:40 |
So
cutting away the hooks, and letting them go into the sea, and freeing the
cords of the guiding-blades, and lifting up the sail to the wind, they went
in the direction of the inlet. |
27:41 |
And
coming to a point between two seas, they got the ship to land; and the front
part was fixed in the sand and not able to be moved, but the back part was
broken by the force of the waves. |
27:42 |
Then
the armed men were for putting the prisoners to death, so that no one would
get away by swimming. |
27:43 |
But
the captain, desiring to keep Paul safe, kept them from their purpose, and
gave orders that those who had knowledge of swimming were to go off the ship
and get first to land: |
27:44 |
And
the rest, some on boards and some on things from the ship. And so it came
about that they all got safe to land. |
28:1 |
And
when we were safe, we made the discovery that the island was named
Melita. |
28:2 |
And
the simple people living there were uncommonly kind to us, for they made a
fire for us, and took us in, because it was raining and cold. |
28:3 |
But
when Paul had got some sticks together and put them on the fire, a snake came
out, because of the heat, and gave him a bite on the hand. |
28:4 |
And
when the people saw it hanging on his hand, they said to one another, Without
doubt this man has put someone to death, and though he has got safely away
from the sea, God will not let him go on living. |
28:5 |
But
shaking off the beast into the fire, he got no damage. |
28:6 |
But
they had the idea that they would see him becoming ill, or suddenly falling
down dead; but after waiting a long time, and seeing that no damage came to
him, changing their opinion, they said he was a god. |
28:7 |
Now
near that place there was some land, the property of the chief man of the
island, who was named Publius; who very kindly took us into his house as his
guests for three days. |
28:8 |
And
the father of Publius was ill, with a disease of the stomach; to whom Paul
went, and put his hands on him, with prayer, and made him well. |
28:9 |
And
when this took place, all the others in the island who had diseases came and
were made well. |
28:10 |
Then
they gave us great honour, and, when we went away, they put into the ship
whatever things we were in need of. |
28:11 |
And
after three months we went to sea in a ship of Alexandria sailing under the
sign of the Dioscuri, which had been at the island for the winter. |
28:12 |
And
going into the harbour at Syracuse, we were waiting there for three
days. |
28:13 |
And
from there, going about in a curve, we came to Rhegium: and after one day a
south wind came up and on the day after we came to Puteoli: |
28:14 |
Where
we came across some of the brothers, who kept us with them for seven days;
and so we came to Rome. |
28:15 |
And
the brothers, when they had news of us, came out from town as far as Appii
Forum and the Three Taverns to have a meeting with us: and Paul, seeing them,
gave praise to God and took heart. |
28:16 |
And
when we came into Rome, they let Paul have a house for himself and the armed
man who kept watch over him. |
28:17 |
Then
after three days he sent for the chief men of the Jews: and when they had
come together, he said to them, My brothers, though I had done nothing
against the people or the ways of our fathers, I was given, a prisoner from
Jerusalem, into the hands of the Romans. |
28:18 |
Who,
when they had put questions to me, were ready to let me go free, because
there was no cause of death in me. |
28:19 |
But
when the Jews made protest against it, I had to put my cause into Caesar's
hands; not because I have anything to say against my nation. |
28:20 |
But
for this reason I sent for you, to see and have talk with you: for because of
the hope of Israel I am in these chains. |
28:21 |
And
they said to him, We have not had letters from Judaea about you, and no one
of the brothers has come to us here to give an account or say any evil about
you. |
28:22 |
But
we have a desire to give hearing to your opinion: for as to this form of
religion, we have knowledge that in all places it is attacked. |
28:23 |
And
when a day had been fixed, they came to his house in great numbers; and he
gave them teaching, giving witness to the kingdom of God, and having
discussions with them about Jesus, from the law of Moses and from the
prophets, from morning till evening. |
28:24 |
And
some were in agreement with what he said, but some had doubts. |
28:25 |
And
they went away, for there was a division among them after Paul had said this
one thing: Well did the Holy Spirit say by the prophet Isaiah to your
fathers, |
28:26 |
Go
to this people and say, Though you give ear, you will not get knowledge; and
seeing, you will see, but the sense will not be clear to you: |
28:27 |
For
the heart of this people has become fat and their ears are slow in hearing
and their eyes are shut; for fear that they might see with their eyes and
give hearing with their ears and become wise in their hearts and be turned
again to me, so that I might make them well. |
28:28 |
Be
certain, then, that the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles, and they
will give hearing. |
28:29 |
[] |
28:30 |
And
for the space of two years, Paul was living in the house of which he had the
use, and had talk with all those who went in to see him, |
28:31 |
Preaching
the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ without fear, and
no orders were given that he was not to do so. |
|
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